


Maybe We Can...

by im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Boys Kissing, Crush, Falling In Love, Family, First Kiss, First Time, Flashbacks, Fluff, Humor, Lashton - Freeform, Luke Hemmings & Ashton Irwin Are Brothers, M/M, Romance, Sexual Experimentation, Smart Luke, Smut, Step-Brothers, Step-Sibling Incest, Teenagers, Underage Kissing, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-12 14:06:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7937551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance/pseuds/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashton thought his first times would suck; so, he wanted to try them with someone who would not laugh at him, someone he trusted and someone like Luke. The feeling was not mutual because even though Ashton was not his real brother, Luke had always considered him as one and to agree with Ashton would be to cross a line. However, that was a detail as Ashton always managed to convince him and Luke had always given in. with time, Luke’s feeling changed and he started to look at Ashton differently but for Ashton it was not the same; for him, it was only his teenage-self experimenting things. Ashton left and Luke moved on but when he came back, seeing Luke, all grown up, stirred things inside of him and he wanted more. Would he be able to convince Luke all over again or was he only a part of Luke’s past?<br/></p><div class="center">
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	1. It Started With...

Luke impatiently tapped his foot against the carpet as he chewed on the red straw that was in his Fanta. The truth was: he was bored and he was not supposed to be bored. He had been excited for his birthday for a whole month because you only turn thirteen once but when it was actually his birthday party, he was sitting on a chair, looking around the room while sipping on some fizzy drink. Some kids from the neighbourhood were invited but Luke was not friend with any of them because he would rather stay in, read a book or play on his computer than go out and make friends. The only people he hung out with, from time to time, were Ashton, his big brother, and Ashton’s best friends. Luke let out a sigh; even Ashton was having more fun than him. He was sitting in a corner with Michael and Calum and the three of them just kept bursting into fits of laughter, every now and then.

If only he was as friendly as Ashton, perhaps he would have had friends of his own, who would have attended his party, but Luke was not good with people. His problem was probably his lack of confidence, which was why he never walked up to people of his age to make friend with them. Luke looked at Ashton and again let out a sigh. A few days ago, Ashton had turned fifteen and his birthday party was a much better one than Luke’s one. Technically, Ashton was his step brother; he was two when his dad, Andy, and Ashton’s mom, Liz, got together but he was too young and did not remember any of it. For him, Ashton was no less than his own brother and they were as close as any real brothers could be. His eyes drifted to Ashton’s best friends. Michael became friend with Ashton after they both took part in a school play some years ago. As for Calum, who was Michael’s neighbour and childhood friend, he also became friend with Ashton after Michael had introduced them.

“Here comes your brother,” Calum motioned in the direction from where Luke was coming.

“What are you guys talking about?” Luke asked when he reached the three.

“Nothing…” Ashton mumbled while Michael said, “planning something for later tonight.”

“Later tonight? You two are staying?”

“Yeah, we’re having a sleepover,” Michael grinned excitedly, almost too excitedly that it looked suspicious, and Calum slapped him in the arm, signalling him to calm down.

“It’s nothing,” Ashton smiled as he wrapped an arm around Luke’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go and enjoy your party? You’ve been so excited for today.”

“I know but… never mind,” Luke made a face as he turned away. Even these three did not want to hang out with him.

Ashton grabbed his wrist. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I’m bored.”

“Come on, it’s your birthday. It can’t be that bad. Go and have fun.”

“Yeah,” the birthday boy forced a smile and he again turned to walk in the direction of the chair that he had previously been occupying; the night was going to be a long one.

Three hours later, Ashton, Michael and Calum were in the garage, under a blanket fort and getting ready for bed.

“So, what is it that you two had been excited about all evening?” Ashton asked as they settled on the mattress.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yeah,” Calum grinned as he pulled out a DVD from his backpack.

Ashton’s eyes widened when he saw the cover that had some naked girls on it. “Is this what I think it is?”

“You’re so awesome,” Michael said excitedly.

“How did you get that?”

Calum turned to Ashton, who still looked like he was in shock. “I stole it from my sister’s boyfriend’s bag. It was a piece of cake really.”

“How are we gonna watch it?” Michael asked, already opening the box.

“Huh… I could get my dad’s laptop,” Ashton proposed.

“What are you waiting for? Go and get it.”

Ashton nodded and got to his feet, already making his way to the door. He tiptoed to the study and after making sure there was no one in sight, he took the laptop and quietly exited the room and made his way to the garage. However, that was not quite how things went.

“Where are you going with that?” Luke asked as he eyed the laptop that Ashton had in hand.

“Huh… we’re gonna watch a movie.”

“Can I watch too?”

Ashton thought about it for a second. “No, grown up only.”

“But Calum and Michael are thirteen, like me,” Luke protested.

“I know but you can’t watch.”

“Why not?”

“You just can’t because I am saying.”

“Does dad know you have his laptop?”

“No…” Ashton said slowly, looking at the laptop, then at Luke.

“Daaa…”

“Shh…” Ashton dragged Luke into the kitchen and looked at him after setting the laptop on the counter. “Don’t tell dad anything, or mom. I’ll do anything you want for the next two days?”

“Hmm…” Luke tapped his index against his chin as he thought about it. “No, daa…”

“Alright, all week next week? I’ll do anything you want. How about that?”

A smile appeared in Luke’s lips. “Alright.”

“Cool,” Ashton again picked the laptop and walked out of the kitchen, stopping at the door and looking at Luke over his shoulder. “Hey, happy birthday.”

“Yeah,” Luke replied with a tiny smile. “Have fun.”

“You too.”

Luke dragged his feet back to the room that he shared with Ashton and stared at the empty room, sighing. He settled on his bed, immediately pulling the covers over his shoulders, and thought back to earlier that day; honestly, his day did not really go like he had wanted it to. First, his parents had sent him to his grandparents’ house with Ashton and he did not like visiting his grandparents because they lived on a farm and Luke had always thought it stunk over there. Although, he knew it was the cow that scared him; there were six of them and a bull. Afterwards, when he returned home, he got to know that his parents had thrown him a surprise birthday party and it was not just him, Ashton and his parents anymore, like he had wanted. Then there was that: Ashton was having a sleepover with Calum and Michael. He had hoped he would get to spend some time with Ashton but that was also not possible.

“Shh…” Michael said and quickly paused the movie. “I hear noises.” Quietly, he got up and tiptoed to the door, opening it slightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to watch the movie too,” Luke stated.

Michael sighed before grabbing Luke by the wrist. “Come on.”

“What are you doing?” Luke asked as he struggled to free his hand from Michael’s grip while the other boy was dragging him up the stairs.

“Stay here.”

“What?” Luke frowned; normally, he would just have let go of it and do what he was told but Michael had the tendency to boss around with him and sometimes it did get on his nerves. “It’s my house. I’ll stay where I want.”

The older boy rolled his eyes and turned on his heels to leave, only to realise Luke was following him. “What do you think you’re doing? Didn’t I tell you to stay there?”

“Didn’t I tell you that it’s my house and I’ll be where I want?”

“I had hoped I wouldn’t need to do this but you leave me with no choice. I’ll let Ashton deal with you.”

“Does that mean I get to watch the movie with you?”

“No, don’t get your hopes up.” Michael entered the garage and entered the blanket fort. “Guys, abort the mission, we have an intruder.”

“What is he doing here?” Calum asked when he saw Luke, who had poked his head through the opening.

“Spying on us,” Michael simply said.

“Couldn’t you have sent him to his room?”

“I did but he followed me back here. Ashton, you talk to him.”

Ashton looked at the sullen expression on Luke’s face and then at his two best friends. He knew he had been looking forward to spend some time with Michael and Calum but it was Luke’s birthday and he did not really get the chance to spend time with him either. “Come on guys, don’t be mean. It’s his birthday. Let him stay.”

“Can I hang out with you too?” Luke asked, a sudden smile appearing on his face.

“Yes,” Ashton also smiled.

“What?” Michael creased his eyebrows. “What about our movie?”

“We can do that another time. Get in Luke.”

“So, what are we gonna do now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we could play a childish game, like truth or dare,” Michael shrugged.

“Truth or dare sounds good to me,” Ashton nodded.

“Alright then, who’ll begin?”

“How about we start with birthday boy?” Michael proposed as he made himself comfortable.

“Ok, I say truth,” Luke grinned.

“You have a crush on Beth, don’t you?” Michael asked.

“Who’s Beth?” Calum frowned.

“A guy from our class big sister,” Michael stated. “You have a crush on her, don’t you Luke? I saw how she looked at you at school.”

“What? No, she’s so old. I don’t have a crush on her. I only found her lost puppy once, that’s all. Calum’s turn.”

“Dare,” the brunette said confidently.

“I dare you to… huh…” Luke paused and looked around himself, trying to come up with something. “Suck on your big toe,” he smiled; there was no way Calum would be able to do that.

“Piece of cake,” Calum smiled as he pulled off his sock and grabbed his foot, bringing it to his lips and taking his toe into his mouth.

“How did you do that? I was certain you’d fail,” Luke said, his smile had been replaced by a frown.

“Some people are more flexible than others and I just happen to be one of them. Ashton’s turn. Truth or dare?”

“Truths are for babies and dares are for grown up. So, I say dare. Dare me Calum.”

“I dare you to… ok… hmm… I dare you to… man, I don’t know,” Calum scratched his head as he looked around. “Ok… I got it. Do a headstand.”

Michael rolled his eyes at that and he tapped his index against his knee as he waited for Ashton to be done. Although he was annoyed, he could not help but laugh when Ashton failed. That went on for several minutes, from one person to another, each dares sillier than the previous ones and it only left them to laugh at one another. They had completed two rounds and it was back to Michael, who was starting to get bored although he was laughing as hard as the other three.

“Seeing those stupid and ridiculous dares makes me want to pick truth. I choose truth,” Michael stated the moment Ashton had settled in his place and the laughter had subsided.

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

Luke’s eyes widened at the revelation; if Michael had kissed someone, it could only mean Calum and Ashton might have too, which left only him out and he had never kissed anyone. Technically, he had kissed people, like his mom, his dad, Ashton, his aunties, cousins but those were on the cheeks and they were not the same as sharing a kiss with someone special. To make it even worse, Michael and Calum were the same age as him.

“No way, you haven’t,” Calum said in a surprised tone.

“Just because I haven’t kiss you does not mean I haven’t kiss anyone,” Michael laughed.

“Ew… I don’t want to kiss you,” the brunette made a face. “I don’t want you to be my first. I don’t want you to be my anything.”

“Who was it? The girl?” Ashton asked.

“Jenny.”

Ashton stared at him. “Jenny from my math class or jenny someone else?”

“Jenny from your math class.”

“When did that happen?”

“A few days ago…”

“How was it?”

“I thought it was good but then two days later, I kissed Naomi and it was awesome. We got into some tongue action even.”

“Wait! Naomi from my English class?” Ashton looked at Michael, who nodded. “How are you even having your ways kissing girls from my class? They don’t even pay attention to me.”

“I don’t know… maybe because I’m cuter than you.”

“So, you kissed two girls in the past week and you didn’t even tell us anything?” Calum threw a pillow at him. “We’re your best friend, Michael.”

“I was going to tell you but then mom got me a new Xbox and I got busy with it and I forgot.”

“How could you have forgotten? It was your first kiss, an important part of your life and you don’t forget such things,” Calum scoffed. “I would never forget mine, when I have it.”

“It’s nothing great, it’s just a kiss,” Michael shrugged.

The two of them stated bickering about how important and how unimportant a first kiss was while Luke silently stared at them and Ashton was lost in his thought. Michael had kissed a girl? Michael was younger than him and he had kissed a girl? He was fifteen, it was about time he did it too and he should do it fast, at least before he found out that Calum had done it too and that would leave only him out. He had never really thought about his first kiss but now that the subject had been approached, the wheels in his brain were turning. Calum was saying it should be with someone special while Michael thought it could happen with anyone. Who should he listen to? Should he wait until he met someone he thought was special enough or should he just do it so that he would not be left out?

“You’re just being dumb,” Calum pointed out.

Michael was about to reply back but Ashton spoke first. “So, first kiss? How was it? Did it feel good? How did it taste? Did it feel weird? Did you stand on your toes because Jenny is taller than you?”

“No, I didn’t stand on my toes… I… Wait! Did you guys hear that?”

“What?”

“That noise.”

“There’s no noise Michael.”

“You know what I think?” Calum looked at Michael and then at Ashton. “Michael has never kissed anyone and is just fucking with us. He’s making up stories so that he doesn’t have to tell us the detail because there is nothing to tell.”

“But I heard a…” before he had time to complete his sentence, something fell outside the fort. “Holy fuck…”

“Shit, what was that?” Calum asked as he looked through the opening of the fort and quickly closed it when another noise was heard.

“It’s probably just the wind,” Ashton laughed nervously but jolted when he saw a shadow on the wall. “Ok, it’s not the wind.”

“What is it? Shit,” Michael mumbled.

“Fuck! There’s a monster in the garage,” Ashton pulled his blanket over his head and turned off the flashlight that he had in his hand.

Luke, who had been silent the whole time, let out a laugh. “Guys, come on, it’s just Cuddles.”

“What is Cuddles?” Michael asked while Calum asked, “you have a pet called Cuddles?”

“What? No, I would know if I had a pet called Cuddles and he definitely would not have been called Cuddles. Who’s Cuddles, Luke?”

“Just a… cat that I picked on my way from school. I hid her in the garage so that mom doesn’t find her.”

“A cat?” Ashton whispered, his breathing speeding up. “But I’m allergic to cats.”

“But it was starving…”

“I don’t care. Get that thing out,” Ashton sneezed. “I think I’m gonna pass out.”

“Your allergy is superficial because Cuddles is not a cat. She’s a puppy.”

“Don’t use big words. Just because you like to read doesn’t mean you have to use words that no one else use. You’re twelve and it doesn’t suit you.”

“Thirteen.”

“Yeah but it has not even been 24hrs and you’re still the same as you were twelve.”

“Sorry to interrupt your brother-brother fight but I’m not sleeping in here if the puppy is staying here,” Michael said loudly.

“It’s just an innocent puppy,” Calum pointed out. “It’s not like he’s gonna attack you.”

“I’m still not sleeping here. You heard Luke; he picked it on the streets. I don’t want to think what kind of bugs are crawling on it.”

“Alright, let’s go upstairs, to my room. We’ll deal with the puppy tomorrow,” Ashton proposed. “Why don’t you two gather your stuffs and join us?” he asked as he crawled out of the fort.

“Yep, sounds good.”

“You’re coming Luke?”

“We can keep the puppy, right?”

Ashton did not answer him and only kept walking; he had other things on his mind to be thinking about a puppy. He was certain about three things: Michael had his first kiss, Calum did not have his first kiss yet and he was going to be the next one out of the three of them to have his first kiss because he was older. He could not help but wonder what it would feel like. Michael did not give them any details but after watching part of that porn movie, the first porn movie he had ever watched, he was desperately wanting to try it. He was sounding pathetic, he knew it because he was fifteen but he was acting like he was twelve, or worse, ten. Ashton turned to look at Luke and smiled.

“Why are you smiling?” Luke frowned.

“Nothing…”

“Just because I don’t talk to many people does not mean I’m stupid. You’ve been quiet all the way from the garage to the bedroom and now you’re grinning like that. It can’t be nothing.”

“Who do you imagine your first kiss to be with?” Ashton asked instead.

“I don’t know… someone special.”

“Do you think your first kiss should be with someone special or just anyone?”

“Someone special, why?”

“Am I special to you?”

“Why are you asking me that? Of course you’re special.”

“Maybe we can… will you kiss me then?”

“What? Don’t be stupid. You’re my brother.”

“And I’m special… so?”

“No…” Luke climbed onto his bed and pulled the cover over his head.

“You’re only being silly. It’s just a… puppy,” Ashton finished when the door opened and Michael and Calum walked in.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked as he looked at Luke’s bed.

“Nothing… Luke’s just arguing with me because he wants to keep the puppy.”

Luke stared at Ashton, who was so easily lying. “That’s not true.”

“Let’s just go to bed. We’ll talk about the puppy tomorrow.”

***.*.*.*.***

“Luke?” Ashton called from his bed. “Luke? I know you’re not sleeping.”

“I am,” Luke replied; he did not want to be having a conversation with Ashton because since his birthday, which was five days ago, every time they would be alone, Ashton would try and convince him about that kiss thing.

“No, you’re not. You’re talking back to me.”

“I’m sleep-talking.”

“Come on, Poodle, don’t you want to know?”

Luke almost laughed at the nickname because Ashton had not called him that since he was five but he caught himself and kept the seriousness in his voice. “I do but not with you. Why don’t you go and kiss Devon? You have a crush on her since ages.”

“Yeah but if we do it together and we both suck at it, no one will know and no one will laugh at us.”

“No… I don’t want to.” Luke pulled his pillow over his head to hide his face.

“Why do I feel like you want to but you’re scared to do it?”

“What? I don’t want to kiss you. You’re my brother and it’s wrong.”

“It’s just a kiss,” Ashton pointed out.

Luke sighed. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“No,” Ashton smiled and sat on the edge of Luke’s bed.

“Fine.” Luke sat up straight and briefly pressed his lips to Ashton’s before pulling away.

“That’s it? You call that a kiss? I wasn’t even ready.”

“A kiss is a kiss. You wanted me to kiss you and I did. Good night,” Luke dropped his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

“Luke? Come on, if you could do this much, you can do better.”

“I can’t believe this. Are we really doing this?” Luke sighed and moved to a sitting position.

“Close your eyes,” Ashton whispered.

Ashton licked his lips and inched his face closer to Luke’s, until he could feel Luke’s breaths on his mouth. Slowly, he closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together, lightly at first and then firmer. He stayed like that for a couple of seconds and then decided to move his lips slightly, for a proper kiss. They moved their lips against one another for a little longer, until Luke pulled away and stared into Ashton’s green eyes. As innocent as the kiss might have been, it was only after pulling away that Luke realised his heart was thumping in his chest and his breathing was slightly faster. He was still looking at Ashton when the older boy talked and brought him back to reality.

“What about the tongue thing? I wanna do it. Maybe we can try that too.”

“You can try that with Devon,” Luke replied and dropped his head onto his pillow before pulling his blanket over it.


	2. Trouble In Paradise?

**Six Years Later**

Ashton lifted the tiny cactus pot that was resting in the right palm of the statuette, which was beside the door, and took the spare key. He stepped inside the house that he had grown up in and let out a happy sigh; after being away at university, that was the familiar smell that he needed, home. Instinctively, he made his way further in and up the stairs and down the corridor that he knew by heart, to stop in front of a particular door, his and Luke’s bedroom. A small frown appeared on his face when he realised that the two single beds were gone and they had been replaced by a double bed but he brushed it off shortly and went inside. He set his suitcase in a corner and dropped his duffel bag on the bed before opening it.

**.:. Flashback .:.**

“Luke? Are you sleeping?” Ashton whispered. When he got no answer, he pushed his blanket off him, got off his bed and quietly crossed the distance between the two beds, to go to Luke. “Luke?”

“What?” Luke finally said when Ashton lightly shook his shoulder; he had been pretending to be asleep and had thought Ashton would leave him alone if he ignored him but he was wrong.

“I want to try something,” Ashton said quietly as he lifted Luke’s blanket and climbed beside him.

“Ash, I’m tired and we have school tomorrow. Go back to bed and sleep.”

“It’s Sunday tomorrow. Come on. You’re going to love it.”

“What is it?”

“I want to kiss you?”

Luke let out a little laugh and turned around so that he was facing Ashton. “Don’t we do that already?”

“Yeah for three weeks but I want to try something different.”

“Ok.”

“I want to try it with tongues,” Ashton said carefully but the excitement was clearly heard in his voice.

“How are we going to do that?”

“I’m going to put my tongue in your mouth and you are going to suck on it, or something like that.”

Luke scrunched his face. “Ew… I don’t want to suck on your tongue.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad.”

“How would you know if you have never done it?”

“Because everybody does it and Michael said it was fun.”

“So, you want to do it because Michael did it?”

“No, because I thought you would like it.”

“Liar.”

“Will you do it?”

“Ok.”

Ashton threw the blanket off them and pushed Luke onto his back before climbing on top of him. Slowly, he leant forward and lightly pressed their lips together. Their eyes fluttered close at the same time and their lips started moving against one another in an innocent kiss, with lips barely grazing each other. A few seconds later, Ashton pressed his lips firmer against Luke’s, deepening the kiss, while Luke wrapped his arms around the older boy’s neck. Tentatively, Ashton licked Luke’s lips and slightly pushed the tip of his tongue past them as he waited for any kind of reaction from the boy under him. He smiled when Luke pressed the tip of his tongue against his and he pushed his tongue further in. When Luke accidentally bit on his tongue, Ashton pulled away from the kiss and moved to a sitting position onto Luke’s hips, his eyes never leaving the younger boy.

“Sorry,” Luke mumbled as he licked his lips.

“You’re supposed to suck on it, not bite on it,” Ashton whispered as he pondered about it. “Ok, maybe you can bite on it but not so hard.”

“Do you want me to kiss it better?”

Ashton smiled as he reached for the last button of Luke’s pyjama shirt and opened it before moving to the next one and the next one, until they were all undone. He then pushed the flannel material to the sides, exposing Luke’s pale chest, and went on to caress his skin with the tip of his fingers. Luke shivered at the touch but the little frown on his forehead never left because for three weeks they had been kissing and they had always kept their clothes on; that was something new and sudden to Luke but he was not going to complain. He grabbed the front of Ashton’s shirt and pulled him back down. They were about to kiss again when Luke heard some noises outside the door and the doorknob was being turned. Quickly, he pushed Ashton off him and pulled the blanket to cover himself.

“Ouch,” Ashton let out a painful cry as he rubbed his butt.

“What’s going on here?” Liz asked as she turned on the light.

“Mom? What are you doing here?” Ashton frowned as he got off the floor.

“I was going to bed and I heard some noises. I came to check on you boys.”

“It was only Ashton, who was talking in his sleep, and then he fell off his bed. I think it was a nightmare,” Luke said and faked a yawn.

“Alright. Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight mom.”

“Why did you say that?” the older boy asked once the door had closed.

“Did you have a better excuse? One day you’re going to get us in big troubles.”

“No… we’ll be fine.” He again settled beside Luke and looked at him. “Where were we?”

“I’m sleepy.”

“But you were not sleepy five minutes ago.”

“I am now.”

Ashton sighed. “Alright, goodnight.”

Luke bit the side of his lower lip and, before Ashton had the time to get off the bed, he wrapped his arms around his waist to pull him to him.

“I thought you were sleepy,” Ashton laughed.

“I was messing with you.”

Ashton pushed the blanket off Luke and climbed back onto Luke’s hips. He leant forward and brushed Luke’s lips with his own before taking the bottom one between his teeth and tugging on it. Luke laced his fingers through Ashton’s hair and pulled him in for a proper kiss, which Ashton instantly complied to. Their lips moved lazily together while one of Luke’s hand travelled lower and he slipped it under Ashton’s pyjama top to caress the skin of his back. Taking the older boy by surprise, Luke pushed his tongue into his mouth and instinctively, Ashton sucked on it. Tentatively, he tried to graze Luke’s tongue with his teeth but he applied a little bit too much pressure and also ended up biting the younger boy’s tongue. Luke smacked him in the arm before pulling away and looking at him and Ashton could only smile sheepishly.

**.:. End Of Flashback .:.**

Ashton let out a laugh at that memory; out of all the memories he had in that house, in that room, that was the one that came to him. “Why am I even thinking about that?” he said to no one in particular. That happened ages ago and since they had stopped doing whatever they were doing a few years back, he had not really thought about anything that involved Luke and himself intimately. Those were thoughts that he had banished to the back of his head in his late teenage years and he had never thought they would surface again. Shaking his head, he went back to removing his stuffs from his bag and setting them on the bed. That was when the white wooden door opened and Luke walked into the room, with only a towel wrapped around his hips. Ashton’s hand stayed midway in the air to his bag as he stared at Luke’s still damp back.

Luke sang the words to a song that he had heard that morning and had been singing since then as he unwrapped the towel and patted his chest dry. He tossed the towel onto the back of his chair, ran a hand through his hair and moved to his underwear drawer. Still glued on the spot, Ashton took a good look at him and he had to admit Luke did look different. During the three years that he had been away, he had not really been in contact with Luke, except for the occasional phone calls and he had no idea what Luke had turned into with the years; he let his eyes trail from Luke’s messy hair, his stubble, his toned abs, his muscular arms and then his ass. He quickly looked away when his eyes landed on that part; it seemed like Luke had no idea that he was there. Ashton cleared his throat and Luke turned his head to look at him, clearly surprised.

“What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Ashton repeated, with his eyebrows creased. “I was expecting more like a welcome home. I missed you.”

Finally pulling on a pair of boxers, Luke turned on his heels to face him. “Yeah. I mean welcome back but you were supposed to come in two weeks.”

“Surprise,” Ashton laughed. “Don’t I at least get a hug?”

“Of course.”

The younger boy walked to him and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug before pulling away slightly and rubbing his damp hair against the side of Ashton’s face.

“Luke? I see you’re still ill-mannered.”

“I missed you too, big brother,” Luke grinned.

“Wow, look at you. You’ve grown a beard and you seemed to have grown taller. You’re not the skinny little boy you were when I left.”

“Yeah, I’m a man now and I think you’re the one who got shorter. You shrunk. You’re turning into an oldie,” he laughed and walked to Ashton’s bag before turning it upside down and emptying its content on the bed. “Is there anything for me in there?”

“Yeah, I got you this sweater.”

Luke took the offered sweater from Ashton’s hand and made a face. “I don’t wear these anymore.”

“But you used to love wearing them.”

“Things have changed while you were away.”

“Yeah I can see that.”

“You’ve changed too. I mean, look at you,” Luke said as he took in Ashton’s appearance for the first time. Just like him, Ashton had a light stubble, had grown more muscular and his hair was no longer straight but slightly curly.

“Stop looking at me like that. Where’s my bed?”

“About that… this is my room now.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean this is your room? Where am I gonna sleep?”

“On the couch, in the living room,” Luke joked.

“No fucking way.”

“Luke, honey, I’m home.”

At the sound of his mom’s voice, Ashton rushed downstairs and, taking the woman by surprise, he ran towards her and hugged her. “Mooommmm. I missed you.”

“Hey Sweety, you’re back. I missed you too. How are you? Look at you. My baby has grown up. When did you come? How was your ride? You could have called me. I’d have picked you up. How was uni? Did you meet Luke yet? I really wished you came and visit us when you were at uni. I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“Mom, mom, mom,” Ashton laughed. “Slow down. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Except to your new room,” Luke called from the top of the stairs.

“I’m not staying in the living room.”

“Of course not,” Liz laughed. “Did Luke say that? Come on, Honey. Don’t be mean, he just came.”

“Yes, mom. Don’t you want to see your new room?” Luke asked as he approached them.

“Of course, show me.”

“Follow me.”

The excitement that he had on his face vanished when Luke entered the garage and led him up the trap door to the small room that was there. Ashton looked at the single bed that was in a corner and then at the cupboard, the old desk and his favourite lava lamp sitting right on top of it, not knowing how he felt about them.

“Tada,” Luke smiled.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not staying here. Mom, come on. I’ll stay in Luke’s room. There’s a double bed, we can share it.”

“If Luke doesn’t mind,” Liz shrugged.

“Mom, you know that Ashton kicks in his sleep. He’s never gonna let me sleep if he shares with me.”

“Ash, Baby, it’s only temporary. We’re redoing your room and you only have to be here until then.”

“My room?”

“Yep, the old store room, the same one that was supposed to be your room a few years ago,” Luke added.

“Yeah but you were too scared to sleep alone and I stayed in your room,” he recalled. “But mom, I can’t sleep here. I’ll stay in Luke’s room until my room is done.”

“Mom, no.”

Liz shook her head at them. “You boys sort it out by yourselves.”

“Come on, Luke. It’s only temporary.”

“Exactly, it’s temporary, you can stay in here itself.”

“Why don’t you stay here while I have your room? It’s temporary,” Ashton argued.

Luke scoffed. “I’m not giving up my room.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s mine.”

“Fine whatever.”

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

Ashton cursed as he tossed the blanket aside and got off his bed, the bed that he used to have when he was younger and was clearly too small for him. He made his way outside and to the old swing set that they had in their backyard and took a seat on it. It was the middle of the night and despite the fact that he was tired, he simply could not sleep. So many things had changed in his absence and it felt like he had a lot of catching up to do. He had lost his room and had no choice than to sleep in that miniscule room that was above the garage. His nice and sweet little brother had turned into a not-so-nice-and-not-so-sweet little brother. Closing his eyes, he let the cool night breeze clear his mind and calm him down as he kept telling himself that the next day would be better.

“Hey!”

He jolted at the sudden sound of a voice and quickly opened his eyes to see Luke standing in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” Luke asked when Ashton did not answer him.

“I don’t want to talk to you, mean-giant-fart.”

“That’s very mature,” the younger boy rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care. You’re mean and that’s it.”

Ignoring Ashton, Luke took a seat on the other swing and let out a little laugh. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Huh… I was on the phone with my girlfriend and then I went to get some water from the kitchen. I saw you through the window and I thought…”

Ashton instinctively raised an eyebrow. “You have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, Allison. What about you?”

“Single.”

“What are you doing out here at this time?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

The younger boy turned to the side to look at him; he had to admit Ashton looked really tired and it made him feel bad inside. “You can sleep in my room.”

Ashton’s face lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, only for tonight.”

As Luke led the way back to his room, he could not help the waves of apprehension that were going through his whole body. Since Ashton had stopped everything that was happening between them, they had not shared a bed and that would be the first time. Luke was scared; he had let Ashton lead him on and do things to him in the past and he was scared it might happen again. When they had first kissed, it was only something stupid and random for Luke but as the days passed and they kept doing it, he was somewhat addicted to kissing Ashton and always wanted more. Innocent kissing turned into more passionate kissing and with time they took things to the next level and got more physical. By the time Luke realised what was happening to him, he had fallen for Ashton and before he knew it, Ashton had ended everything and pretended nothing had happened.

Luke was crushed and he was not willing to go through that again. Taking a deep breath, he shook those thoughts out of his head and climbed in his bed; Ashton had wanted to put an end to things and it was very unlikely he would want to do those things again. Besides, those times spent with Luke were probably him wanting to try things as a teenager and he was a mature adult now. Ashton mimicked Luke and slipped under the covers, hoping he would finally get some sleep. Maybe he was wrong and Luke was not the mean-giant-fart that he thought he was after all. He was probably only messing with Ashton, just like he always had, and he was still the soft-hearted Luke that he had always been; it was him who was so caught up with the fact that he lost his room to realise that. He smiled when he realised that the other boy was already snoring lightly and he closed his eyes and decided to do same.

Ashton turned on his other side and sighed as he looked at the time on his phone. An hour had passed and he was still awake. Even though his eyes were heavy with sleep, he could not bring himself to fall asleep. He just kept tossing and turning on the mattress while Luke was fast asleep beside him. Luke, Ashton again sighed. He was actually the reason why the older boy was awake. The strong scent coming from Luke mixed with the smell of his shampoo and Luke’s heavy breathing were all doing something in his stomach, something he could not understand. Whenever he was closing his eyes, images of the past were popping in his head and they were not very helpful; in fact, they made things worse. He could feel beads of sweat forming on his skin and the air felt too warm and stuffy. Finally, he got up and made his way to his temporary room above the garage, where he hoped he could sleep.


	3. I'm Not Jealous

The moment he entered his room, Michael unbuttoned the plain baby blue shirt that he was wearing and tossed it on the back of a chair. Luke and Calum, wearing similar shirts, followed him inside and they both took a seat on the edge of the bed as the older boy opened his closet, in search of another shirt. Finally deciding against it, he walked to the bed and dropped himself backward on the mattress. Calum let out a laugh when Michael groaned loudly out of tiredness; they had a busy day at the café that they worked and Michael was craving for some rest. Shaking his head, Calum walked to the desk and opened the little cabinet that was at the bottom right and pulled out three cans of beer before walking to the bed and handing one of them to Michael.

“I wonder why you still keep beers in your room?” Calum asked Michael as he nudged Luke, who was staring at the carpet. “It’s not like you can’t go to the kitchen to get one.”

“Out of habit, I guess,” Michael laughed as he recalled how he used to hide beers in his room when he was still a teenager.

“Hey, Luke?” Calum nudged him again.

“What? Oh, thanks,” he said quietly and took the can that Calum was offering.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been like this all day,” Calum commented.

“Nonsense… I haven’t been like anything all day,” the youngest of the three faked a laugh.

“Actually it’s true,” Michael added. “It’s like you’re here but you’re not really here. You’re physically present but your mind is absent. Plus, you just keep zoning out. What’s the matter?”

Michael and Calum looked at Luke with concern as the younger boy kept staring at his shoes or the carpet, they were not sure. At first, they were Ashton’s best friends but then Luke wanted friends as well and more time with Ashton; after blackmailing Ashton that he would not let things happen between them if he did not agree, he started to hang out with them too. With time, Luke became good friends with Michael and Calum and after Ashton left for uni, they became even closer friends.

“Luke? You’re creeping me out.”

“Yeah,” Calum nodded. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Ashton…”

Michael sighed as he shook his head. “Ashton’s coming in two weeks, which means, we have plenty of time to figure things out.”

“No, we don’t really… he came back yesterday.”

“What?” both Michael and Calum looked at Luke.

“Yep, he wanted to surprise everyone.”

“Shit!”

**.:. Flashback .:.**

Luke kept mumbling to himself and sulked on his bed when the door opened and he thought Ashton was back but to his dismay, it was Michael’s head that poked inside and he rolled onto his other side and away from the door, only to keep sulking.

“Hey, where’s Ashton?” Calum asked as he followed Michael further inside.

“With chameleon,” Luke replied, without looking at them.

“What? What’s that?”

“He went to meet Camilla, his girlfriend, chameleon?” he rolled his eyes.

Calum and Michael burst out laughing. “What are you so mad about?” Michael asked.

“Never mind. Ashton’s not here. I guess you guys are leaving too. No one ever want to hang out with me.”

Calum glanced at Michael, who shrugged, before sighing. “We’ll hang out with you.”

“Really? Why? I mean, you guys only bear with me because of Ashton.”

“That’s not true. You’re pretty cool too,” Michael took a seat beside him and poked him in the ribs with his index.

“You think I’m cool? No one ever think I’m cool.”

“Yeah, except one thing has to go,” Michael paused when Luke looked at him with confusion. “That sulkiness on your face. It’s totally ruining everything. It has to go. Cal? I need a hand.”

“Ok,” Calum nodded as he offered a hand to Michael.

“Not that, jerk.”

Luke instantly let out a laugh at the two of them.

“There you go; it wasn’t so hard to turn those lips upward after all.”

“You guys are dumb but I like you.”

“We like you too…” Calum smiled.

“Not, in a weird sexual way but yeah, we like you too,” Michael laughed.

“You guys really think I’m cool?”

“Yeah, I still remember that night, two years ago. It was your birthday and me, Calum and Ashton were having a sleepover in the garage and you crept in there. I dragged you to your room but you followed me back. And then Ashton wanted you to stay and then a freaking cat scared us all. Since that day, we’ve been hanging out a lot more and I totally change my initial thoughts about you. I think you’re really nice and funny.”

“Aww…” Luke shifted to a sitting position and pulled Michael into a tight hug.”

“Group hug,” Calum shouted and jumped on them before also wrapping his arms around them and causing them to fall on the floor.

“Being crushed, being crushed, being crushed,” Michael let out and the other two moved away, still laughing.

“I’m glad Ashton insisted on having you to spend time with us,” Calum said as he again took a seat on the bed.

“He wouldn’t have if I didn’t make him.”

“So, you wanna tell us what was wrong?” the brunette asked carefully.

“It’s nothing…”

“It’s not nothing because you clearly seem to have a problem with Camilla.”

“It’s complicated,” Luke mumbled.

“Well, it’s Sunday and we have all day. So, tell us.”

“It’s nothing… seriously.”

“Oh I know what it is,” Michael hummed. “You’re jealous your brother might not spend as much time with you, now that he has a girlfriend.”

“I’m not jealous of her,” Luke scoffed. “I actually hate her.”

“Hate her? But why?”

“I… huh… I… I can’t say it…”

“Of course you can,” Calum nudged him in the side.

Luke bit his lip and looked down at his hands, unable to decide whether he should tell them or not. Things between Ashton and him had started out simple and innocent, with Ashton wanting to try what kissing was like. Then things kept taking new turns every times and eventually he had ended up doing things that he never would have thought of doing with another guy, that too, with his brother, whom he was falling hard for. Plus, there was that girlfriend who had recently made her entry and Ashton was spending more time with her than with him. Saying he was in trouble was an understatement. How could he say all that to Calum and Michael?

Besides, there was a chance Ashton had already told them and they already knew because best friends do share everything. If that was the case though, they would not be asking him what was wrong. Although, they could because Ashton did not know about the part where Luke was in love with him and he was jealous of his girlfriend. Luke let his eyes drift to them; they were Ashton’s best friends and there was no guarantee they would not tell Ashton what Luke would tell them. He was in a circle of confusion and he could not seem to find a way out.

“Luke, if you’re worried we would tell Ashton, don’t be. You’re our friend too. You can trust us,” Calum reassured.

“Yeah, nothing you say will leave this room.”

“I think I’m falling in love…”

“Yay, that’s a good thing. You were sulking because you’re falling in love? Boy, you should be happy,” Calum slapped his shoulder playfully.

“With Ashton,” Luke finished his sentence.

“Yikes! I mean, what? Did I hear right?”

“You’re in love… with Ashton?” Calum stared at him.

“Guys, stop looking at me like this. I get it if you start hating on me.”

“We don’t hate you. We just weren’t expecting this.”

“Does Ashton know?”

“Of course not. you’re not going to tell him, are you?”

“No, we won’t tell him.”

“So, how did this happen?”

“It’s a long story. And it all started that day, on my birthday, when we were playing truth or dare in the garage. He wanted to know what it feels like to kiss someone because Michael had already tried. Ashton wanted to try it with me.”

“Did you do it?”

“I refused but he talked me into it.”

“And what happened?”

“I kissed him. But things have been less frequent since a few months and since he started dating Camilla, nothing happened between us.”

“Wait, you guys did more than just kissing?” Calum eyes grew wide.

“Yeahhh…”

“I want all the details,” Michael grinned.

“This is embarrassing,” Luke looked away as he felt his cheeks heating up.

**.:. End Of Flashback .:.**

“I have one serious question,” Michael said, finally breaking the silence that had settled in the room.

“What?”

“Are you sharing your room with him?”

“Of course not. He’s staying above the garage temporarily.”

“So,” Michael took a sip of his beer. “How was it, meeting him after so long?”

“I don’t know. He looks different; more mature, more muscular but still a little annoying.”

“Is he like blah-blah, okay-hot or too hot for your eyes?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“Come on, I wanna know.”

“Michael, leave him alone,” Calum swatted the older boy at the back of his head. “Can’t you see he’s already troubled?”

“I just wanna know what to expect when I meet him.”

“You’re not into guys so, that’s irrelevant.”

“Fine, fine,” Michael sighed in defeat but a grin appeared on his features almost immediately. “I know what it is. Seeing him is causing butterflies in your stomach. That’s why you don’t wanna talk about it. You can tell me. I’m your best friend and I won’t judge you.”

“Shut up.”

“He’s slowly turning you on.”

“Fuck you Michael.”

“I’m right. Oh my god. I’m so right. People only get defensive about thing that are true but they don’t wanna talk about.”

“Shut up or I’m gonna shove this can down your throat.”

Calum shook his head at Michael and then turned to Luke; they were supposed to make him feel better but Michael over here was taking things in the other direction. Why was Calum even surprised? That was Michael, stupid, crazy and mad most of the time, and he would just go for anything he had set his mind on, no matter what the situation was. “Michael, be a sweetheart and have your beer quietly.”

“What?” Michael made a face. “Ashton is my best friend just like Luke is. I wanna know the details before I meet him, so that I know what to expect.”

“We video chatted with him almost every weekend while he was away. So, just shut up.”

“So bossy.”

“You know you like to be man-handled every once in a while,” Calum smiled.

“Only by you, my love.”

Luke smiled at them; that sounded weird and maybe even romantic but he knew that they were not meaning anything and it was all in good fun. He wished Ashton was more like them, silly and chilled out. He wished it was not so awkward between him and Ashton. He wished he had not given in to Ashton years ago, maybe things would have been different between them. He wished he had not fallen for Ashton. Damn, he wished so many things but none of which he could do anything about. His life was complicated and he had no one but himself to blame for it. Luke let out a sigh before taking another sip of his beer.

“So Luke, tell me something,” Michael said and Luke rolled his eyes; he thought he had gotten Michael off his back. “Do you regret not sharing your room with Ashton?”

“No, why would I?”

“I don’t know. Sharing a room with him means sharing a bed with him, which means having him close every night, which means feeling the heat coming from his body all night long, intentionally bumping into him and saying it was an accident and so many other exciting things.”

“Michael, seriously?” Calum scoffed. “Do you really have to be an asshole?”

“I’m just fucking with him. He knows I love him, I don’t mean anything by all this and I like to bully him because he’s youngest.”

“You’re impossible,” the brunette shook his head before turning to Luke. “Did he try anything since he came?”

“No…” Luke raised an eyebrow, not really seeing the point of Calum’s question.

“That’s good. You have nothing to worry about then,” Calum smiled.

“Yeah, except you’re forgetting something,” Michael interrupted. “He only came yesterday. So, let’s not jump to any conclusion. And as for you, pooh, you can count on us. We’re with you. If something goes wrong, you know who to call.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong. I’m not sleeping with him ever again.”

“I know Ashton’s my best friend but if he had taken my virginity and then left me like that, I’d never think of sleeping with him again either. We’ve got your back buddy.”

“Thanks guys. I love yous,” Luke smiled; finally his day was starting to look brighter.

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

Ashton slouched further down on the couch as he kept his eyes glued to the television screen; there was a show going on about whales but he was not really watching it because his mind was busy somewhere else. By somewhere else, that meant it was busy with Luke. Ever since he came back and he saw Luke, he could not take his mind off him. It was like something had kick-started inside of him and he could not explain what it was. Whenever Luke was around, there was that weird tingly sensation inside of him and when Luke was close to him, his stomach would flip and do weird things in his tummy. A tiny smile appeared on his lips as he thought about Luke’s face, his once innocent face, which had turned manly, more mature with his stubble; he had turned even more good-looking than Ashton remembered. Then there was his smile, Luke’s smile, it was so contagious that Ashton found himself smiling even wider.

His first encounter was with a naked Luke and as much as Ashton tried to get that image out of his head, he could not. Luke’s broad shoulders, his lean back, his muscular arms, his toned legs and the swell of his ass; even from the back Luke’s body was the picture of perfection. He had not seen many naked guys in his life but he could tell what was hot and Luke was definitely hot. And there it was, that funny feeling in his stomach again. Biting the corner of his lower lip, Ashton trailed his hand down his chest and into his shorts. The tips of his fingers had barely grazed his penis when he heard the front door close and he quickly pulled his hand away. He got up to check who it was because his parents and Luke were supposed to be at work at that time and the unfamiliar footsteps that were approaching were those of someone who was wearing heels.

“Who are you?” Ashton demanded with a raised eyebrow as he walked to the intruder.

“Who are you?” the girl asked back.

“Excuse me? You can’t barge into my house and ask me who I am.”

“Your house?” she let out a laugh. “This is my boyfriend’s house.”

“This is my house and I’m definitely not your boyfriend. You’ve got the wrong address. You should leave.”

“I should leave? How about you stop being an asshole and leave?”

“Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you are but you need to get the hell out.”

“Ashton, where are your manners?” Luke asked as he walked to them.

“What?” Ashton asked as he directed his attention to Luke. “Who is this?”

“This is Allison, my girlfriend and this is Ashton, my brother.”

“Why is it the first time I’m hearing you have a brother?”

“We’ll talk about this later. And Ashton, I think you should apologise.”

“Fuck no,” ignoring Luke’s protests, Ashton stormed out of the room.

**Two Hours Later**

Ashton was still pacing in his temporary room and his anger did not seem to diminish. Luke really had a girlfriend? When Luke had told him that, he had thought the younger by was joking but it turned out he was not. After everything that had happened between them, he had thought Luke would be into guys but he had a girlfriend and she was hot. There was a bitterness that was filling him inside and it was so frustrating that he wanted to hit something. He grabbed the first thing within his reach, which happened to be his favourite lava lamp, and threw it to the floor, smashing it into pieces. Ashton let out an irritated groan at the thought of that girl. The mere thought of her being upstairs in Luke’s room made him want to throw up.

Instead of being jealous of Luke for having an attractive girlfriend, he was jealous of the girl because he would have to share Luke with her. He already was not spending enough time with Luke and her being there was not going to make things better. Although, he had not met her for long but he could definitely tell that he hated her. Ashton had never felt possessive about Luke before, until he had met that girl earlier and he wanted her out of Luke’s life already. Cursing, Ashton kicked the foot of the bed hard.

“Owww…” he cried as he reached for his toes.

“What’d you do that for?” Luke asked as he climbed the last step and entered the room.

“My wish,” Ashton scoffed.

“What happened in here?” the younger boy eyed the broken lamp and asked.

“Whatever… What are you doing here? Isn’t the alligator waiting for you?”

“Alligator?”

“If you could call my girlfriend chameleon, I can call yours alligator.”

“You knew?”

“Obviously, you used to mumble it every time she would come over.”

“Well, she’s not your girlfriend anymore.”

“I don’t see your point.”

“My point is,…” Luke paused and tried to find the logic in what he was saying. “Never mind… what happened earlier was not nice.”

“You’re right.”

“I’m talking about your behaviour. It was quite rude.”

“Rude?” Ashton frowned. “Did you hear what she said to me?”

Luke sighed. “What did she say?”

“She called me a fucking asshole.”

“I’m pretty sure she didn’t say that.”

“Great. You don’t even believe me anymore. Why would you? You don’t give a fuck about me anymore. Even when I was away, you’d always make excuses so that you don’t talk to me. Three years I was away and I only spoke to you four times and that too, over the fucking phone. How busy can someone be? You didn’t even bother telling her you had a brother. Or did you forget you had one?”

“Ash, calm down…”

“Get out. I don’t want to talk to you.”

Without saying anything else, Luke quietly walked back to his room. He knew Ashton was mad at him at the moment and that was why he was saying those things, otherwise he would not. If only Ashton knew the real reason why Luke had kept his distance, he would probably not have reacted that way. He might be wrong but he felt like Ashton was jealous of Allison. It all seemed like a déjà-vu situation; he was in love with Ashton and was jealous of Ashton’s girlfriend and it was Ashton’s turn to be jealous of his girlfriend, except Ashton was not in love with him. Luke sighed as he took a seat on his bed; he knew Ashton better than anyone else and he knew he should give him his space when he was angry. Besides, Ashton could never stay angry with him for long and within a couple of hours he would himself go and talk to Luke. In the meantime, he would only have to wait.

 


	4. Up To Some Mischiefs

“Ok guys, have fun,” Calum said as he cleaned up another table.

“You’re not going home with us?” Luke stopped and turned around to look at the brunette.

“No, it’s my turn to do the inventory. I’ll see you tonight. What time will you pick me up, Mike?”

“He’s going with me, like right now.”

“No, I’m only dropping you home and then I’m going home,” Michael laughed. “I’ll come by at around eight with Calum.”

“What? I thought you were going with me.”

“I’ve to get out of this sweaty mess,” he motioned to his clothes. “After all, I’m meeting my best friend after so long. I can’t show up in my work clothes.”

“You guys can’t do this to me,” Luke complained.

“We just did,” Michael laughed jokingly. “And what are you complaining about?”

“I don’t want to be home alone with Ashton.”

“What are you worried about? He’s been here for a week already and nothing has happened. It means you’re all good,” Michael pointed out.

“Yeah but my parents were there most of the times and I was not really alone with him. Shits tend to go downhill when we’re alone.”

“It won’t. Don’t worry,” Calum reassured. “Besides, he’ll probably not be home when you get there. We know Ashton, he’s most likely to have gotten bored and went out somewhere. So, just relax. And before you know it, your parents will be home.”

“Ok, I’ll see you tonight. And thanks for the ride Michael but I have run to the store. I’ll see you too tonight.”

After waving them goodbye, Luke shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants and looked around him in the streets, wondering where he would go. Instead of going to the store like he had told Michael and Calum, he had made his way to the bus stop. He sat on a bench and stared at the bus that had stopped in front of him; it was his bus but he did not get in. He only sat there and watched other people get out and in before the bus left again. Calum was probably right and his parents would be there soon and if he wasted enough time, they would reach before him and then he would not have to worry about being alone in the house with Ashton. He knew he was seeing more to things than there were but he did not want to take any risks; the farther he stayed from Ashton, the better it was for him.

He trusted his mind but he did not trust his heart because he knew deep down, somewhere in him, he still felt something for Ashton. He did not want to spark that fire that had been doused when there was a chance of him getting hurt again. For two and a half years, they had spent a great deal of time together, doing things that they should not but after Ashton had gotten himself a girlfriend, he started to spend less and less time with Luke, until everything between them came to an end and were never mentioned again, like they had never happened. It had hurt him, he had to admit that because he had fallen in love with his brother and he had realised that for Ashton it was only a teenage phase, where he was only experimenting things.

At that time, Luke was young and dumb and had spent his time moping about a guy, just like a little teenage girl but now, he was a man, he was mature and sensible and he was not going to make the same mistakes over again. Thirty-seven minutes later, another bus stopped and he decided it was time to go home. He plugged in his earphones and watched the trees as he rode to his destination, which was not far away, as he got down a few stops later. Again shoving his hand in his pockets, he took a deep breath and walked home while telling himself it was just Ashton, his brother, and he had nothing to be apprehensive about. Although, he let out a groan when he realised his dad’s car was not in the driveway and the house was surprisingly quiet. With some luck, Ashton would not be there either.

Keeping that thought in mind, he closed the front door and made his way to his room, scrunching his nose when he reached half-way up the stairs and his nostrils met with a weird smell. His curiosity got the best of him and he set off to find out what it was. There was a bundle of plastic in the corridor as well as a bucket of paint. Frowning, Luke pushed the door open to find Ashton painting the ceiling, in only his boxers. He swallowed and tried to look away but he could not tear his eyes off Ashton’s back and the way his muscles moved as he kept moving his hand in a back and forth motion. In a week, it was the first time he had actually seen Ashton without clothes on and he had he say, Ashton’s body had changed, he was more muscular, he was toned in all the right places and it was making it hard for Luke to breath.

**.:. Flashback .:.**

It was a warm summer afternoon, it was around Christmas time and since it was too hot inside the house, Luke was in the backyard, sitting on the swing and waiting for some cool air to come and hit against his flushed skin. He desperately fanned himself with his hand and took the bottom of his tank top to wipe his face. Then out of nowhere, came a splash of cold water that hit against the side of his head. Turning his head to the side, he smiled when he saw Ashton grinning at him with the watering pipe in his hand.

“What are you doing? We’ll be in trouble if mom finds out,” Luke said but allowed Ashton to spray the water all over him.

“She left thirty minutes earlier and since she went shopping, she won’t be back soon. Come on, it’s fun.”

“Yeah, I bet it is when you’re the one holding the pipe.”

Getting off the swing, Luke ran in Ashton’s direction and fought him for the hose. Obviously, being the stronger one, Ashton managed to keep it in hand but while wrestling with Luke, he also got wet. In the process, he slipped in the muddy puddle that they were making and landed on his back, causing Luke, who was holding on to him, to also stumble forward and he landed on top of Ashton. He stared into the younger boy’s eyes as he stared back into his and slowly, Luke closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Ashton’s parted ones. Instinctively, Ashton kissed back and he placed both his hands on Luke’s waist before trailing one of them up his back to bury it into his hair. He let out a gasp and tilted his head backward when Luke tugged on his lower lip; since they had started kissing a few months ago, they had gotten pretty good at it.

Smiling against Ashton’s lips, Luke took hold of the neglected hose and quickly got to his feet, wasting no time to splash the water onto Ashton’s face. “Gotcha…”

“That is cheating,” Ashton protested and put both his hands in front of his face to block the water. “Come on, give it back.”

“No…” Luke laughed.

“How about we kiss again?”

“Are you trying to use my own trick on me?”

“Luke? Give it back.”

“Na na na na na…”

“Pretty please Poodle…”

“No, my Noodle…” Luke laughed at the nickname.

“Don’t call me that.”

“That’s how I’m gonna call you now.”

Two hours later, they were still chasing each other, fighting for the pipe and wetting the other when they had it.

“Come on, we have to go inside,” Ashton said as he closed the tap.

“What? But this is fun,” Luke whined and dropped the pipe.

“Yeah but we’ll get in trouble if mom comes back and finds us like this. Come on.”

“Ok,” Luke said on a sulky tone as he followed Ashton inside.

“Wait! Take your clothes off.”

“What here?”

“Yeah, look at all the water dripping. We don’t wanna make a mess inside, do we?”

Luke nodded and stripped of his wet clothes, leaving his boxers on, and again followed Ashton. The older boy was also in his boxers and Luke could not help but keep his eyes on the material that was sticking to Ashton’s ass. When they reached up the stairs, Luke made his way to his room while Ashton went to the bathroom. The younger boy pulled his boxers down his legs and kicked it aside as he shook the water from his hair. He looked at the Ashton, who had tossed a towel at him and had walked to the closet while laughing at him, and he bit his lip as he let his eyes trailed down Ashton’s back. Slowly, he walked to the other boy and wrapped his arms around his waist while pressing his naked self to him. The moment he turned around in the embrace, Luke pressed their lips together.

Being so used to Luke randomly kissing him whenever they were alone, he was not surprised when Luke did it and he kissed him back. He guided Luke to the desk, which was nearby, and lifted him up, to place him on top before settling between his parted legs. Ashton pulled back a little to look at Luke before getting rid of his wet underwear and pressing their bodies together again. On the other hand, Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton’s neck and, licking the older boy’s lips, he took the bottom one between his teeth and tugged on it; out of all the times that they had kissed, it was the first time that they were doing it naked and it was definitely something else. Ashton let out a gasp and enclosed his lips around Luke’s upper lip to suck on it while Luke kept sucking on his bottom lip; although, he let go of Luke’s lip almost immediately as the younger boy pulled hard on his hair.

He looked at Luke, who grinned at him sheepishly before pulling him in for another kiss. If Luke was full of surprises, so was he and thus, Ashton trailed his hand up Luke’s thigh and tentatively wrapped his fingers around Luke’s erection that was poking his stomach. Luke let out a groaned at the touch and pulled away from the kiss as he tilted his head backward; Ashton had never touched him anywhere before, except for his cheeks, and he had to admit it felt amazing. Then Ashton moved his hand along the length and claimed Luke’s lips again. For a moment, Luke was conflicted; he did not know whether to concentrate on Ashton jerking him off or on Ashton kissing him. It was the first time he was being touched there and he already knew he liked it. Usually when he would get a hard on while kissing Ashton, he would either wait for it to go away or take a cold shower.

However, after that day, he knew those were not what he was going to do. Luke wrapped his legs around Ashton’s hips and tried to touch Ashton’s penis as well but the position they were in was not favouring things. The next second, Ashton pulled away and, taking Luke’s hand, he dragged him to the bed. He lay on his side and patted the mattress beside him but Luke pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him before kissing him again. When they pulled away to breath, Ashton settled Luke beside him and took hold of Luke’s erection, urging Luke to do the same. Once he took Ashton’s penis into his hand, his cheeks were already turning pink and he buried his face into the older boy’s neck, so that Ashton could not see. He was not familiar with the situation and all he did was imitate Ashton, who looked like he knew what he was doing.

The movements of his fist had increased and he kissed the side of Luke’s face as he closed his eyes when Luke tightened his grip. Ashton did not know for how long they had been going but the next thing he knew, there was something wet on his hand and he knew Luke had come. As soon as he caught his breath, a frown appeared on Luke face; he could not help but wonder if he was doing the right thing because he had come already but Ashton was still hard. After mumbling it to Ashton, who reassure him he was doing a good job, Luke kept moving his hand at the same fast but steady pace as he kissed Ashton’s jaw at the same time. The faces Ashton was making were priceless and Luke could swear he would forever remember them.

On the other hand, Ashton bit on Luke’s shoulder as he felt something pooling in his stomach and he felt the urge to thrust into Luke’s fist, like he had done to himself many times before. It was not the first time he was being touched there but it was the first time he was being touched there by someone else. It was different from when he had to wait for Luke to fall asleep to secretly jerk himself off and he liked it. As the seconds passed, he could feel himself reach closer and closer to the edge and with a groaned muffled by Luke’s shoulder, he came onto the younger boy’s hand.

“Fuck, that was good,” Ashton laughed.

“Stop swearing.”

“Stop being mommy’s good boy,” he pulled away and wiped his hand onto Luke’s bedsheet.

“That’s fucking gross.”

“Who’s swearing now?”

“I’m just following your advice and be the bad boy you want me to be.” Luke knelt to kiss Ashton before moving away to look at the other boy, who was still wiping his hand. “Stop! Mom will think it’s me.”

“But it is… it’s just yours,” Ashton shrugged.

Getting off his bed, Luke walked to Ashton’s bed and grinned at Ashton as he also wiped his hand onto Ashton’s bedsheet. “It’s ok, it’s just yours.”

**.:. End Of Flashback .:.**

Luke was brought back to reality when he felt something wet on his cheek and heard Ashton’s laugh. “What?”

“Where are you lost?”

“Is that paint? On my cheek?”

“What else did you think?” Ashton bit his lips and looked at Luke in a cheeky way.

Luke rolled his eyes and ignored him. “Where did you get grey paint? Because dad bought cream paint for your room.”

“Ugh… cream? I’m glad I got this.”

“And if I may ask again, where exactly did you get that?”

“I stole them from the neighbour’s garage,” Ashton whispered and pressed his index to his lips as he did a shushing sound.

“What?”

“I went out and got them, silly,” he laughed.

“Why don’t you wear some clothes?”

“Huh… I am,” Ashton said as he looked down at himself.

Luke again rolled his eyes. “I mean something else on top of your underwear.”

“Why? Is it bothering you?”

“You’re not a teenage boy anymore, you don’t need to walk around in your boxers. You’re a grown up man. Have some shame.”

“Exactly, I’m not a teenage boy, I’m a grown up man and I have more to show.”

“You have nothing to show and no one want to see these.” Luke bent down and, dipping his fingers into the paint, he drew an ‘x’ on each of Ashton’s nipples and left the room without saying anything else.

Ashton looked at the empty doorway and then at his nipples. What had Luke meant by doing that? Was he flirting? Or was Ashton imagining things? There was only one way to find out. He looked around the room and, smiling satisfyingly at his day’s work, he went downstairs to clean up. Ashton stared at his crossed out nipples in the mirror and tried to scrub the paint off his hands while letting his mind drift to what had happened in the room a few minutes earlier. Once he had cleaned out his nipples and hands, he made his way back upstairs and paced the corridor as he waited for Luke.

“Not so fast,” he grabbed Luke hand and halted him the moment he stepped out of the bathroom.

“What?” Luke groaned. Thinking about Ashton and himself and the past had turned him on and he did not want to be close to Ashton at that instance, especially not after jerking off in the shower.

Ashton pushed Luke against the wall and, pressing himself against him, he kissed him. The action was not appreciated by the younger boy and he pushed Ashton away before glaring at him. Ashton was moving closer again but before he knew it, Luke’s palm had connected with his cheek and he could feel the stinging sensation in his skin.

“Why the fuck did you kiss me for?” Luke asked angrily.

“You’re the one who started things since I came; walking into the room naked, flirting with me before.”

“I was not flirting with you. How could you even think of kissing me? You’re my brother.”

“I’m not your brother, Luke and you know it.”

As soon as that left his mouth, Luke’s palm again connected with the same cheek. “Don’t you fucking say that again. And do me a favour, stay the fuck away from me.”

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

Liz smiled at her husband as she laid the plates on the table and they waited for Ashton and Luke to join them for dinner. Placing her hands on the back of a chair, she looked up the stairs and then at the garage door; her sons were unusually late for dinner that night, which was odd because normally they would be at the dining table even before dinner was ready. Liz walked up the little stairs that led to the room above the garage and raised an eyebrow at Ashton, who was cooped up in his bed.

“Honey, don’t you want to come down for dinner?”

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled without moving from his spot.

“Come on, get up,” she patted his shoulder gently. “I made pasta.”

Smiling, Ashton sat up and looked at her. “With meat and all?”

“Yes, just like Luke and you like it,” she smiled back but then frowned when she saw the mark on Ashton’s cheek. “What happened to your face? Who did this to you?”

“It’s nothing…”

“Baby, it’s not nothing.”

“Mom, seriously I just had an argument with Luke…”

Liz sighed. “Come with me.”

“Seriously mom…”

“You may be an adult but I’m still your mother and you listen to me, young man. Up now.”

Ashton got up and reluctantly followed his mom, thinking they were going to the kitchen but then they were going upstairs instead. When she entered Luke’s bedroom, he stayed by the door and smiled at the boy, who was looking back and forth between him and his mom.

“Luke?”

“Yes mom?”

“Is this a way to treat your older brother?”

“Hmm… what exactly did I do?” Luke asked with a nervous laugh and glared at Ashton, who was standing behind Liz and mouthing _‘told you she’s my mom and she loves me more’_. Ignoring him, Luke turned his attention back to Liz.

“Did you see what you did to Ashton’s cheeks?”

“He deserved it,” Luke stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Luke,” Liz said, a little bit louder and Luke made a face as he could see what was coming his way. “I want you to apologise, right now.”

Luke walked past Liz and stood between her and Ashton, with his back turned to Liz before showing Ashton the finger. Unexpectedly, Ashton made a little ring with his fingers and shook it in the air in a jerking off motion. “I’m not apologising, unless he does.”

“Luke, right now.”

“Mom, you should at least ask me why I slapped him.”

“And why did you do that?”

“He said I’m not his brother.”

Liz turned around and looked at Ashton. “Did you say that to him?”

Ashton looked away. “Maybe… I don’t know… I might have.”

“I don’t want you to say it again, do you hear me?”

“Sorry mom.”

“Don’t apologise to me, apologise to your brother.”

“Ok, I will,” Ashton said reluctantly when he saw the stern look on Liz face. “Can we get dinner now?”

“And he also said that you love him more,” Luke said, before adding a little piece of his own, “and that I’m nothing but an extra.”

“Ashton, it’s not nice to say that. I love you both, equally.”

“I never said that.”

“Liar,” Luke argued.

“I may have said part of that but not the whole thing. You little liar.”

“Quit bickering, both of you. And say sorry to each other.”

“Sorry,” Ashton mumbled.

“Whatever,” Luke mumbled back to him, making sure Liz did not hear. “Sorry.”

“Ashton, I don’t want to hear you say those things ever again, am I clear?”

“Yes mom,” Ashton sighed and Luke poked his tongue at him.

“And you,” Liz turned to Luke. “I don’t want you to hit him again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes mom,” Luke mimicked.

“Good, dinner’s getting cold.”

**11 minutes later**

Ashton looked up from his plate to Luke, who was sitting across from him and quietly eating his macaroni while their parents were talking about the bakery. Smiling, he lifted his foot and ran his toes up Luke’s thigh and he chuckled when Luke flinched and pushed his foot away. He slowly licked his lips, in a seductive way when Luke looked at him before grazing his thigh with his toes again. Luke looked at his parents before glaring at Ashton.

“Mom, I wanna say something. It was very inconsiderate of me to say that to Luke and I’m very sorry,” Ashton said as he caressed Luke’s inner thigh with his toes. “But I think Luke’s still mad at me.” Luke was about to say something but Ashton pressed his foot flat against Luke’s crotch and Luke balled his left hand into a fist on the table. “See how he’s balling his hand and glaring at me?”

“Luke, Ashton already said he was sorry. Quit it now,” Liz sighed.

“Ok, Ashton, I’m so sorry,” Luke smiled and added in his head, _‘but you deserve this’_. Luke intentionally dropped his fork and as he picked it up, he stabbed Ashton’s foot with it.

“Ouch…” Ashton cried, immediately pulling his foot away.

“What happened?” Andy asked concerned.

“Nothing… just bit my tongue.”

Luke was glad because that particular action had kept Ashton’s foot away throughout the rest of the dinner and as soon as he was done, he retreated to his room, without speaking to him.

 


	5. Past Present Future

Ashton grabbed another handful of popcorn, put some into his mouth and set the remaining ones back in the bowl, all the while, his eyes never left the screen of his laptop. He had been doing that for the past fifty-seven minutes; barely listening to the music playing, eating popcorn and staring at the laptop in front of him. It had been two days but he still could not get the image of him and Luke kissing in the corridor out of his head. It was like it was imprinted in his mind and the more he tried to cast it off, the more he would think about it. Even though Luke had slapped him, before that, the younger boy had also kissed him for a brief moment. Okay, maybe that had not really happened but Ashton could swear he had felt Luke’s lips move against him before pulling away. Luke’s lips had felt soft against his, the excess water was dripping from his wet hair and down the side of his face and he smelled so good; Ashton could not bring himself to forget all those.

“Oh my goooddddd! Ashtonnn, you’re back. So good to see you buddy,” Michael almost screamed, causing Ashton to jolt out of his thoughts.

“Fuck, I’m so happy to see you guys. I mean, how did you know I was back? I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you two.” Ashton smiled widely as he hugged both Michael and Calum at the same time.

“Luke told us,” Calum replied. “And thank goodness he told us, otherwise we would never have known.”

“Luke?” Ashton frowned. “Luke told you?”

“Yeah, he’s our best friend, why wouldn’t he tell us?”

“I thought I was your best friend.”

“You are and he is too. So where is he?” Michael asked as he looked around.

“I thought you came to meet me. Then why are you looking for Luke?”

“I was just asking. We didn’t see him for two days. He even skipped work.”

“You work together?”

“Yeah, at the café.”

“I thought Luke worked at the bakery, with mom and dad.”

“He does. But the bakery has expanded and now we even have a coffee shop.”

“Wow, I can’t believe nobody told me.”

“Maybe they didn’t want to bother you yet because you just came,” Calum shrugged. “Enough about that. So, how have you been? Any girlfriend?”

“Nope, no one wants to date my sorry ass.”

“Oh, I got you this,” the brunette smiled as he pulled a box from his bag and handed it to Ashton.

“What is it?”

“Just something I got for you from the bakery.”

Ashton opened the box and looked at the four cupcakes with white frosting and tiny red hearts on top of them. “You took these for free at my parents’ bakery and then you brought them for me? Couldn’t you have gotten me something of your own? Something that you actually put some efforts in?”

“Hey, I decorated them.”

“You mean, I made them, put the frosting and you added the hearts.” Michael corrected.

“Yeah, whatever. Besides, it’s the intention that counts and mine are good.”

“What about you? Did you bring something for us?” Michael asked excitedly.

“No, why would I? I didn’t go on vacation, I went to study.”

“But it’s the intention that counts, not the purpose,” the youngest said again.

“Actually, I did bring something back: myself.”

“Sweet. So what was it like, being away from here, in an unexplored world?”

“Unexplored world?” Ashton laughed. “I didn’t even leave the country.”

“Yeah but you were so far away on your ownnn…” Michael stopped midway in his sentence when Luke paused briefly in the living room, rolled his eyes at them before making his way upstairs. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. He’s been doing that for two days. He goes out early in the morning, comes back late at night and he only talks to mom and dad.”

Calum frowned. “What did you do?”

“Nothing…” Ashton mumbled but Michael raised an eyebrow at him. “I jokingly told him that we aren’t real brothers and he slapped me. We had an argument afterwards.”

“I’ll go see him,” Michael said and got up.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Ashton called loudly as they walked towards the stairs. “Leave me alone, it’s not like I came back after so many years.”

“Stop being dramatic. We’ll be right there,” Michael shouted from the top of the staircase.

“Hey Luke,” Calum smiled as he opened the door.

Luke turned on his side and away from Michael and Calum before closing his eyes. He was mad at everyone and he did not wish to talk to anyone. Why was he mad? Because Ashton had kissed him. He knew it was only Ashton’s fault but all he wanted was to be left alone. His life was so perfect and then, Ashton had decided to come back and turn his world upside down. When Ashton had abruptly ended everything between them, Luke had a hard time to get over it but when he finally did, Ashton had to show up and kiss him. The worst part of it all was that he could not stop thinking about an almost naked Ashton, especially since Ashton had changed into that hot and muscular human being, that he did not use to be four years ago. All he could think about was Ashton’s bare chest, his abs, his toned back, his muscular arms and his ass that Luke could make out through the material of his boxers. It was frustrating but he wanted to keep dwelling on those thoughts; deep down he knew he wanted Ashton to do things to him but then again, he had also made up his mind that he was not going to let Ashton manipulate him again.

“Luke?” Calum again called as he poked Luke in the arm.

“Go away, both of you,” Luke said on a sulky tone.

“What’s wrong baby?” Michael climbed on the bed and hugged Luke from behind.

“Yeah, what’s wrong baby?” Calum mimicked and climbed on the other side of Luke to hug them both.

“Stopppp, you’re crushing meee,” Luke whined before wriggling out of their embraces. “Can’t you two just leave me alone? Your best friend is here, why don’t you go and hang out with him?”

“You’re our best friend too.”

“Best friend? Where were you when I needed you? It’s all your fault. Everything that’s happened.”

“Woah! Calm down,” Michael creased his eyebrows. “Our fault? What did we do? What happened?”

“What shouldn’t have happened, that’s what had happened.”

“Can you be a bit more specific? Are you talking about your fight with Ashton?” Calum asked carefully.

“Fight? Is that what he told you? Fucking liar. He fucking kissed me and it would not have happened if you guys came with me that night, like you were meant to.”

“What?” the two of them stared at Luke.

“That’s not what he said,” the brunette stated.

“Obviously, he’s got a reputation to uphold.”

“Hold on,” Michael interrupted. “Ashton kissed you, how is that our fault?”

“Like I said, if you had come with me, like you said you would, I would not have been alone and he would not have had the opportunity to do it.”

“So, you’re blaming us?”

“Yes, I am. Because technically, it’s your fault, like I said already.”

“Wow Luke. That’s fucking awesome.”

“Yeah but that’s never happening again.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve decided if I’m never alone with Ashton, nothing can go wrong.”

“Hey,” Calum said quietly. “If you think it’s our fault, we’re sorry, truly.”

“No, we’re not because it’s not our fault,” Michael argued, causing Calum to pinch his thigh hard. “What was that for?”

“Don’t worry Luke. Everything will be fine. You have Camila, you don’t have to worry about Ashton.”

“Actually…” Luke bit his lips. “I broke up with her.”

“What? Why? When? How?”

“After the kiss, I couldn’t do it anymore. I know I might never let Ashton do anything again but as you guys know, I love him.”

“Might? Means there’s a chance you would.”

“No, never. Nothing’s gonna happen again.”

“Now that all that’s been sorted out, can we get something to eat? I’m starving.”

“Since mom’s not home, I guess we’ll order pizza.”

“Ok, let’s go downstairs. Ashton’s all alone there,” Calum said after a few minutes.

“No, I’m not going anywhere near him.”

“Trust us, nothing will go wrong.”

Ashton swallowed before taking a sip of his beer; there were pizza boxes on the table, beers, music playing, his best friends were there, Luke was there and yet, instead of feeling happy, he felt nothing. In the past, when he was a teenager, that would have been the perfect setting, especially, the thrill of stealing beers from the fridge and go to have them in the tree house with Calum, Michael and Luke. Now that he thought about it, he did not remember seeing it; the famous tree house in which he and Luke had spent so many nights. Luke; he had never thought he would ever feel attracted towards him again. His fucked-up relationship with Luke was something he had moved on from and Luke was only his friend and brother. What they did in the past was wrong on so many levels but like he had told Luke, they were not real brothers and that for him was a good reason enough to have Luke again. However, Luke did not want him and that was where things started to get complicated.

Letting his eyes drift to Luke, Michael and Calum, Ashton sighed. Luke was talking and laughing with everyone, except for him, and honestly, that hurt him. He used to be the closest to Luke but now it seemed like there was an ocean between them and he hated to admit that he was partly the cause of it. If not being with Luke meant Luke would talk to him again, that was fine with him. He was going to do anything it took to sort things out and he was willing to even give up what he was feeling, just so Luke could talk to him again. Then, it would be just like before, him, Michael, Calum and Luke.

“Do you guys want to stay tonight? Mom and dad are gonna get back late. Please stay,” Luke looked at Michael and Calum pleadingly.

“Only if I get to share your bed,” Michael smirked.

“No way, I’ll share with Luke. You can share with Ashton.”

“I asked first.”

“I asked second and you’ll let me because you love me.”

“Fine but next time, I’m sharing with Luke.”

“Yeah, tomorrow you can share with me,” Luke grinned.

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, tomorrow and you can’t say no because it’s my birthday.”

“Your birthday was two months ago.”

“Luke?” Ashton cleared his throat and when Luke turned to look at him, the younger boy’s smiled disappeared. “Can I talk to you?”

“What you do want?” Luke took a deep breath as he said that because as much as it hurt him to talk to Ashton like that, he did not want Ashton to know that he had a weakness when it concerned him.

“Can you please stop ignoring me?”

“Can you stop being a jerk?”

“Anything for you. Just talk to me again.”

“So that you can try…”

“No, it won’t happen again. I promise.”

“Ok,” Luke smiled and pulled Ashton into a hug; he could tell Ashton was sorry and he did not want to hurt him by pushing him away again.

**.:. Flashback .:.**

Ashton pressed his palm to Luke’s mouth and his index to his lips as he glanced at Calum and Michael, who were sleeping in sleeping bags in the middle of their beds. “Shh… you’ll wake them up,” he whispered.

“What are you doing?” Luke whispered back.

“Come on.”

Luke looked Ashton, who was already opening the door, and pushed his blanket off him as he also tip-toed out of the bedroom. “Where are we going?”

“Just follow me.”

“Why are we going outside? I’m sleepy,” Luke yawned as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his fingers. “We’ll get in trouble if mom or dad finds out.”

“Live a little Luke. It’s one a.m. and everybody is sleeping.”

“And we should be sleeping too,” Luke said through another yawn.

“Come on, lazy butt. Be wild and have some adventure.”

“Why are we in the tree house?”

“Because Calum and Michael are in our room.”

“So? They are always in our room when they sleep over. Come on, let’s go back.”

As Luke was turning to leave, Ashton grabbed his hand and halted him. “Stay with me, Poodle. I… we could…”

“What is it you wanna try today?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because you always act like this when you want to try something new.”

“Michael told me…”

Luke pressed a hand to his lips to muffle the rest of his sentence. “Why do you always want to do what Michael does?”

“Because he’s younger than me and he always does everything first.”

“So?”

“I wanna try it too. It sounded so exciting when he said it. Maybe we can try it too.”

“Fine,” Luke sighed. “What is it?”

“I want you to suck me,” the older boy said after a deep breath.

“What do you mean?”

“Suck my penis.”

“Ew. That is gross, disgusting,” Luke made a face. “I’m not doing that, never. I don’t want to put your penis in my mouth.”

“Why not?”

 _‘Because that’s where pee comes out,’_ Luke thought but he did not say that because he did not want to sound silly. “Because it’s gross.”

“How do you know it is if you haven’t tried it?”

“How do you know it’s not?”

“Because everybody does it.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“I’ll do it if you do it.”

Luke bit his index as he thought about it. “I don’t know how to do it.”

“Pretend it’s a popsicle. You love popsicles, don’t you?”

“Fine but if I hate it, we stop.”

“Sure, anything you want.”

“And don’t laugh at me if I’m doing it wrong.”

“Promise. Now, let’s do it before somebody notices we’re gone.”

Nodding, Luke pulled his shirt off and then his pants and boxers while Ashton did the same. Hissing as the cool night breeze brushed against his bare skin, he shivered and wrapped an arm around himself while he waited for Ashton to set a blanket on the floor. Once he was done, he took Luke’s hand and they both got on their knees before Luke settled onto his back and Ashton climbed on top of him. Slowly Ashton leant in and pressed their lips together as he also moved his hips against Luke’s, like they always did. Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton’s waist and thrust upward, pressing his penis against Ashton’s because he always loved how it felt. He opened his eyes when Ashton pulled away from the kiss to breath and, trailing a hand up to the older boy’s cheek, he pulled him in for another kiss; one of the thing he loved to do the most with Ashton was to kiss him and if it was up to him, he would do it all the time because he never seemed to get enough of Ashton’s lips.

Eventually, Ashton pulled away and rolled onto his back. As Luke was about to ask him, he pointed to his penis and Luke caught the point and instantly nodded. He settled on his knees beside Ashton and licking his lips, he slowly bent forward; he still was not sure about the whole thing but if Ashton wanted him to do it, he would try to. Luke tentatively poked Ashton’s erection with the tip of his tongue and when nothing weird happened, he inhaled deeply and took the head past his lips. Unlike what Ashton had said, it was nothing like sucking on a popsicle; it was warm, not sweet and hard and soft at the same time. It did taste a little funny but Luke decided to brush that off and slid his mouth along the length, taking more and more of the older boy in at the same time. When he reached about halfway, he sucked in, hollowing his cheeks before letting go of the pressure and repeating the action again. Cursing, Ashton squeezed his eyes tight and fisted the blanket at the action; Michael did say it felt amazing but he had no idea what the other boy was actually talking about.

**.:. End Of Flashback .:.**

“Luke? Where are you lost?” Calum asked as he shook the younger boy’s shoulder. “I called you five times already.”

“Nowhere,” Luke mumbled and rolled onto his side, turning away from Calum. He was glad the lights were off and Calum could not see how pink his cheek were because he knew damn well he was flushed and why would he not be? His whole body felt warm and his blood was rushing through his veins. And shit, he even had a boner. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and closed his eyes, willing it to go away. The least he wanted was to be in bed with his best friend with a hard-on.

“Luke?” Calum propped himself on his elbow to look at Luke’s face; it was dark but he could still make out his features. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Luke swallowed and pressed his palm to his forehead. “Fuck! I just… I just need to use the bathroom.” Before Calum had the chance to say anything, he rushed to the door and exited the room. He was glad he was on the side that was closest to the door and did not have to walk around the bed with that thing while Calum was looking at him with questioning eyes. Luke closed the bathroom door behind him and let out a frustrated groan. What was wrong with him?

**Back in Ashton’s room**

Ashton ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the ceiling and then at the boy next to him; Michael was fast asleep and no matter how hard he tried, he could not fall asleep. Maybe he should start counting sheep because apparently that work or maybe he should think of something happy until he eventually fell asleep.

**.:. Flashback .:.**

Ashton crossed his arms over his chest and yawned; he was lying in his bed and was unable to sleep. He could not stop thinking about what Luke and he had been doing for the past year and a half. When things had started, he had only wanted to try stuffs with Luke, just so he did not look like an idiot with someone else. He was only supposed to be experimenting but as time passed, things took new turns. It reached a point where he was not doing them to try them out but because he wanted to. He knew he should not be but he could not hold back whenever Luke was around. He wanted to do things with Luke and they were not with the intention of experimenting. He could not get enough of Luke’s lips or Luke’s naked body pressed against him. However, there was that voice inside of his head that kept telling him to stop because it was wrong but he could not bring himself to do it.

“Hey,” Luke said as he climbed on top of Ashton.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Because I want to be with you tonight,” the younger boy said and leant forward. “It’s been a while.”

A while, Ashton knew it had been because the voice of reason was getting louder and louder in his head and he had decided to tone things down. He turned his head to the side before Luke could kiss him and pressed his hands flat against Luke’s chest to halt him. “Stop… we can’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s wrong.”

“Wrong? How? How can something like this be wrong?” Luke asked and held the older boy’s hand by the wrist. He brought them to his lips and kissed his palms.

“Because you’re my brother,” Ashton said and closed his eyes; he could not look at Luke in the eyes anymore. He knew the expression on Luke’s face had changed because he had dropped his hands and he did not have the courage to look at his face anymore.

“Why now? It had never been a problem before.”

“We were being stupid and things got out of control. We have to stop.”

“It’s because of your girlfriend, Allison, isn’t it?”

“No Luke, it’s not because of her,” Ashton replied, still not looking at Luke. And yes, he was right, it was not because of her since he only liked her because she was cute and fun. Finally, turning his eyes to meet Luke’s, Ashton stared at them for a few seconds. “I just don’t want to do it anymore. It was immature and dumb.”

“Alright.”

Ashton let out the breath that he had been holding when Luke got off him and climbed into his own bed. He glanced at the younger boy, who was turned away from him, and sighed. He had been meaning to do that for a while but he had not known how to and after doing it, he felt much lighter. However, after hearing a sniff coming from the other bed, he felt guilty although he knew it was for the best.

**.:. End Of Flashback .:.**

Ashton cursed; he instantly knew that was the moment he had made a mistake. He should never had done that. He had himself pushed Luke away from him, he had hurt him and those were to be the reasons why Luke did not want to do anything with him. That one night had changed their relationship forever. No, not forever. He was going to change it back. He was going to right the wrongs that he had done and get Luke back. Even though Luke had made it look like he had moved on, he knew it was not the case; he had known Luke all his life and he could tell when Luke was pretending and when he was being honest. Although his guts and his mind told him to give up, his heart told him otherwise and that time, Ashton was going to let his heart decide. He did not want to make the same mistake again. It did not matter to him if people say Luke was his brother because deep down he knew they were not real brothers and he was going to win Luke over; he at least had to try.

He knew saying was easier than actually doing it, especially since Luke was always making sure to never be alone with him, and he knew he had, earlier that day, decided to give up but after remembering that night, he was not sure he wanted to give up yet. He did not want to give up without trying because being more mature and sensible than his teenage self, he knew he was in love with Luke, or something like that; he was not sure if it was love but it was definitely a strong feeling. He already knew where to start and that was to get Luke alone somewhere; without their parents and without Michael and Calum and especially without that girlfriend of his. Where? He somewhat had an idea, he just needed to come up with some full proof plan first and he realised he had all night to come up with one.

**Next Morning**

Ashton poked the pancakes on his plate with his fork as he waited for a good opportunity to start a conversation with his mom and put his plan into action.

“Good morning, mom. Smells nice in here. What are you making?” Luke smiled brightly as he entered the kitchen. “Good morning, Ashton.”

There it was, the good opportunity that he had been waiting for. “Morning.” Ashton sipped at his coffee as he waited for some minutes to pass before addressing his mom. “Hey mom? I was thinking of visiting Gran. I can’t even remember when was the last time I went there. We could all go, me, you, dad and Luke. It would be nice, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it sure would be but you know how busy your dad and I are,” Liz said and placed some pancakes on a plate before setting it in front of Luke.

“Oh, ok then,” he pouted and said on a sullen tone.

“Hey, don’t be like this. Why don’t you do go with Luke?”

Luke’s head shot up and his fork stayed midway to his mouth as he stared at his mom. Him and Ashton? Alone? At their grandparents’ house that he did not like going to? “What? But what about work? I can’t… I can’t go.”

“Don’t worry about work, Honey. Your dad and I will manage. And Calum and Michael will be there too. You two go and have some fun.”

“Aww mom, you’re the best,” Ashton jumped to his feet and pulled the older woman into a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Sweetie.”

Luke almost had a panic attack; he could feel himself start hyperventilating. Did he hear what he thought his mom had just said? That was so not happening. Actually, that was not the truth. It was happening and Ashton’s grin was the proof. Alone with Ashton in that place that was in the middle of nowhere? It had to be a nightmare. _‘Wake up, Luke,’_ he repeated in his head. It was not a dream he concluded after pinching his arm. In front of him, his mom looked happy and Ashton looked happy. He had to think positive. It was going to be a nice trip. The previous night Ashton had promised him he would not do anything and he trusted Ashton. Nothing was going to go wrong, only good things would come out of this trip and after everything that had been happening, he needed that break.

 


	6. Down Memory Lane

Luke sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time and shifted in his seat. He had been sitting in that car for nearly two hours and his ass was starting to get sore. Ashton had not even stopped at any point to get them something to eat or drink, in fact, that need had not arose since Liz had packed them sandwiches. Luke wished she had not because his legs were starting to get stiff and he wanted to stretch them in front of him.

“Why are you sulking?” Ashton asked as he glanced sideways.

“Look at the weather, it’s raining, it’s wet, it’s dirty and it’s cold. I should be cosy in bed, under my blanket. But no, I can’t be because Mr. Ashton here, wants to visit grandma. Damn it! My ass is so fucking sore. Because of who? Because of you,” he said and continuously poked Ashton in the arm with his index.

“Luke, stop being childish. I’m driving. Besides, what are you being mad about? We made this plan two days ago and it’s not like we knew it was going to rain.”

“We made this plan? You mean, you made this plan. I’m only being dragged into it. And there’s something that’s called ‘postpone’, you know? When you saw that the weather was so bad in the morning, you could have postponed your trip. I don’t even know why you’re so eager to go there.”

“Come on, it’s not so bad. You love grandma’s house,” Ashton said and tried not to laugh.

“Haha, very funny Ashton.”

“What?”

“You know I don’t like going to grandma’s. Her house stinks.”

“No, the only reason why you don’t like to go there is because Margaret scared you when you were a kid.”

“I’m not scared of Margaret, she’s just a cow.”

“Yeah, moo,” Ashton laughed. “I still remember the look on your face when she chased you that time when you tried to milk her.”

“I fucking hate cows,” Luke mumbled.

“Come on, it’s gonna be fun. Just loosen up a little. Actually, about that, I’m sorry.”

Luke frowned and turned to face him. “What for?”

“Well, that day, when you were attempting to milk her, I pulled on her tail. I swear I had no idea she would chase after you.”

“What? Were you fucking out of your mind? I could have died.”

“I was six years old. I was only being playful.”

“That was mean… you kept that from me all these years. I’ve had nightmare of Margaret for so many years because of you.”

“Sorry,” Ashton shrugged. “Stop moping, we’re here. You don’t want to make grandma feel like you don’t want to be here.”

“But I don’t want to be here.”

“You know that, I know that but grandma doesn’t. Come on, smile.”

Ashton got out of the car, and, after knocking on the door, he waited. “Grandpapi,” he smiled and hugged the old man.

“Look at you. You’re all grown up.”

“Yeah, but little Lukey has grown bigger than me,” he smiled when Luke walked to them.

“Grandpa…” Luke dropped his duffle bag by his foot and wrapped his arm around his grandfather. “Ashton be a sweetheart and bring my bag inside,” he simply said and walked inside. “Grandma, grandma, what are you making?”

“Apple pie, your favourite,” she replied and placed a kiss to Luke’s forehead as he hugged her.

“Luke’s favourite? What about mine?” Ashton asked while leaning against the doorway.

“Ashton, I’m so happy to see you after so many years.”

“Yeah and don’t worry we’ll be here for a few days.”

Few days? Luke blinked; had he heard right? Did Ashton just say a few days? No, that could not be. He had only brought two T-shirts, a pair of pants and his tooth brush, toothpaste, cologne; what was he going to do? When Ashton had said had said he wanted to meet their grandparents, Luke had thought they would only stay the night and get back the next day but he was wrong. When he saw Ashton exiting the kitchen, he followed him.

“A few days?” he asked when Ashton got his bag out of the car. “I didn’t even bring anything. What am I going to do? What am I going to wear?”

“I knew you wouldn’t, which is I packed some stuffs for you,” Ashton grabbed another bag and tossed it at Luke, who only stared at him. “Come on, last one inside will clean Margaret’s poop.”

“That’s going to be you,” Luke shouted and quickly run inside but scrunched his nose when Ashton reached at the same time as him.

“Nope it’s not me. I’m going to drop my things in my room upstairs. See you later.”

Ashton dropped his bag on the bed and looked around himself before taking a deep breath and letting the memories of his childhood rush through his head. His childhood, a big part of his childhood was spent in that house because they used to visit their grandparents almost every weekend and they spent most of their school holidays there. Walking down the corridor, Ashton bit his lower lip as he looked at the stairs that led to the attic. He wanted to go there but he just stayed where he was and looked at it. He had so many memories of him and Luke in there since they mostly stayed there when their other cousins would also come to visit the grandparents. Eventually making up his mind, Ashton walked up the stairs and walked further into the room. He smiled as he looked around himself; everything was still like he remembered they were. He opened the pull-out couch and fell backward on it before closing his eyes and letting the memories fill him again.

**…::: Flashback :::…**

“Luke?” Ashton whispered as he poked the younger boys back.

“Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“What happened to you? Everybody is having fun downstairs, what are you doing up here alone?”

“You’re hanging out with the others and no one wants to hang out with me.”

“They’re your cousins, of course they want to hang out with you.”

“No, every wants to hang out with you because they want to know how cool it is to be sixteen.”

Ashton laughed. “I only turned sixteen five days ago. Besides, they’re all here for your birthday.”

“What have you gotten for me?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises. Tell me already.”

“Liar. You know you love surprises.”

“Tell me what it is?”

“No,” Ashton shook his head and blew on Luke’s lips.

Shifting higher up on the pull-out couch, Luke placed his hands on Ashton’s shoulders and looked at him. “Give me a hint.”

“No, it’ll be too easy. Four more days, wait for it.”

“Come on, I’m the cutest little brother that you have. Tell me,” the younger boy whined.

“You’re my only little brother,” Ashton chuckled. “I can’t give you your present now but I can give you something else.” He moved closer to Luke and pressed their lips together.

Luke pulled away shortly and looked at the door. “There is no lock on this door. What if someone comes?”

“Poodle, everyone is having fun downstairs. They won’t bother coming up here.”

Luke nodded and allowed Ashton to kiss him again. He sucked on Ashton’s upper lip while Ashton sucked on his lower one; after doing that for a year, they had gotten pretty good at it and they knew very well what the other liked the most. He shifted closer to Ashton and swung his leg over the older boy’s side, bringing the hips closer together. Luke whined when Ashton pushed his leg away but sighed happily when he realised why the older boy did so; while their lips moved together, Ashton snaked a hand under the blanket, which was on one of Luke’s leg and part of his upper body, and rubbed his penis. He then slipped his hand inside his shorts and tugged on it. However, that action was only momentary because Ashton had pulled his hand away and, pushing Luke onto his back, he got under the blanket and took Luke’s soft dick into his hand after pushing his shorts out of the way. He chuckled and held Luke in place when he blew on Luke’s inner thighs in a ticklish way and the younger boy wriggled under him.

“Keep still,” he whispered as he tickled his side with his free hand.

“I can’t. I’m ticklish everywhere,” Luke laughed and pulled the blanket over his head to look at Ashton.

“Really? Are you ticklish here?” he asked as he tickled his belly button and Luke mumbled a ‘yes’ through his laugh. “How about here?” he moved his fingers to Luke’s underarm and wriggled them.

“Ok, yes. Stop…” the younger boy whined. “Are you going to…” he motioned to his penis.

“I wonder if you’re ticklish here,” Ashton trailed his fingers behind Luke’s balls and tickled him there.

“Ashtonnnn… Ashtonnnnn…” Luke giggled and held the older boys hand. “You didn’t answer me. Are you going to…”

“Suck you? You can say it. You don’t have to be shy.”

“I’m not shy,” Luke bit the inner side of his cheek as he could feel them heating up.

“Yeah?”

“Do it already.”

“Do what?” Ashton smirked.

Luke took a deep breath and whispered, “suck me.”

Ashton wetted his lips and closed them around Luke’s penis before slowly moving his head up and down. He slipped a hand between his own legs and fisted his own penis at the same pace. As he could feel himself growing harder into Ashton’s mouth, Luke balled his hands on either sides of him and closed his eyes. He bit on his lower lip to restrain himself from making any noise when Ashton pulled back to roll his tongue around the head. It was only the third time he was giving him a blow job and each time the older boy would surprise him a little bit more.

“Ash, Ashton, stop… someone’s coming…” Luke muttered when he heard the creaking of the stair but it seemed like Ashton did not hear him because he kept sucking on his penis. Glancing at the door, Luke pulled him hard by the hair, earning a glare from the other boy. “Someone’s coming,” he said louder.

“Shit…” Ashton pulled away and moved to the other side of the bed, hiding his erection with a pillow.

“What are you guys doing here?” James, their younger cousin, asked and walked further into the room.

“Luke’s having a tummy upset and I came to see if he needed something,” Ashton lied.

“I’ll stay up here with you.”

“No,” Luke almost shouted. “I mean, I just want to sleep. Can you leave? We’ll hang out tomorrow.”

“But…”

“Come on James, Luke likes to be left alone when he’s not feeling well.”

“Fine…” the boy sighed. “Are you coming with me?”

“Huh… I… huh… I’ll stay here until Luke fall asleep, then I’ll be there.”

As the other boy exited the room, Ashton grabbed a chair and hooked it under the door handle, locking it before turning back to Luke. “Where were we?” he wriggled his eyebrows as he walked back to the bed.

Luke pulled the blanket off him and revealed his erection; he had not bothered to pull his shorts back because he knew Ashton would finish him off. “Here.”

“Naughty,” Ashton laughed and took Luke’s erection into his hand.

**…::: End Of Flashback :::…**

“What are you doing here?”

Ashton propped himself on his elbow to find Luke standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. “I was just… lying down.”

“In the attic? I thought you have taken the room downstairs.”

“I did but I was just looking around and I felt like lying down. What are you doing here?”

“I… hmm…” Luke sighed; he did not want to answer that. Like Ashton, he too wanted to see the room where they had spent so much time fooling around but he could not tell Ashton that. “I was looking for you everywhere.”

“Why? Is dinner ready?”

“No, I was helping grandma in the kitchen and there is this new recipe that she found and she wanted you to taste.”

“Ok, let’s go.”

**Later that night…**

Luke gasped when his back hit against the wall and Ashton pressed himself against him. Without wasting time, Ashton connected their lips. He lifted a leg and slipped it between Luke’s thigh before pressing it against his balls. Halfway through the movie that they had been watching, Ashton had straddled Luke’s thighs and had kissed him. They had kissed, moved their hips against one another and when the need to take things further had arisen, they went upstairs, while kissing all the way up to Luke’s room. Ashton pushed Luke on the bed and climbed on top him before rocking his hips onto Luke’s erection.

“Fuck, I want you so bad.”

“I’m all yours, Ash. Kiss me.”

Ashton leant forward and again pressed his lips to Luke’s, eagerly kissing him. He kneed Luke’s legs apart and, settling between them, he lightly moved their hips together. Then he tugged on the younger boy’s lower lip, causing him to gasp, and snaked a hand between them to cup his erection. That, for Luke, was not enough; thus, he pulled Ashton’s tee off and tossed it aside and as Ashton straightened himself up, he unbuttoned his pyjama top before getting out of it. It did not take time for the rest of their clothes to land on the floor and their naked bodies were pressed together. Placing a kiss to the middle of Luke’s chest, Ashton directed the head of his erection to Luke’s hole and he thrust inside when Luke pushed onto it. Ashton was going in and out of him and Luke parted his lips to breathe heavily through his mouth, while moaning and making all kind of sounds. The way that Ashton’s dick was sliding in him was making all kind of feelings to rush through Luke’s body and tilted his hips upward before enclosing his legs around Ashton’s hips to bring them closer.

Supporting himself on his elbows, Ashton rested his forehead against Luke’s and buried his fingers into Luke’s locks as he looked into the younger boy’s eyes. “I love your hair.”

Luke did not know why Ashton had said that to him all of a sudden, while they were in the middle of having sex but it made him smile. “I love you…”

“I love you too, my Poodle.”

Luke placed his hand at the back of Ashton’s head and guided the older boy’s lips back to his. At the same time, he snaked a hand between their bodies and pumped his neglected cock. Ashton was hitting his prostate with every forward thrust and his body was begging for some relief. Turning his head to the side, Ashton took Luke’s earlobe between is teeth and tugged on it while Luke let out another loud moan. Without warning, the older boy pulled out of him and looked into his eyes. He pressed a kiss to the tip of Luke’s nose, one to his chin, one to his Adam’s Apple, another one to the middle of his chest and left a series of smooches down to his belly button. He stopped there and stuck his tongue inside, causing Luke to laugh, before moving lower. As he looked into Luke’s eyes, he took his penis into his mouth and sucked hard on the length. Luke closed his eyes and thrust upward into the other boy’s mouth. He buried a hand into Ashton’s hair and fisted the bedsheet with the other as he felt a familiar sensation in his lower body. With a grunt, he came into Ashton’s mouth.

Panting, Luke opened his eyes. “Fuck!” He turned the lights on and looked around himself; what the fuck did he just dream about? When he felt something wet against his skin, he moved to a sitting position, only to realise that he had cum in his boxers. “Shit!” Ever since things had ended between them, Luke had not had a wet dream and now, all of a sudden he had one that included Ashton. It had to be the house, there was no other explanation to it. He did not know when they would be going back home but he hoped it was soon because the sooner he was away from that house, the better it would be for him. Grabbing a clean pair of underwear from his bag, Luke pulled it on before going to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face.

**Meanwhile…**

Ashton closed his eyes and pumped his erection at a steady pace. He pressed his lips together to keep himself from making any sound as he rolled his thumb over the head of his penis. Slowly, he trailed the hand that was on his nipple down his stomach and to his balls and then further down. Biting on the corner of his lower lip, Ashton circled his hole with his middle finger tentatively but pulled it away shortly and directed his hand to his balls. At that action, he could not help but remember that one time when Luke was sucking him. They were in their room and after weeks, they were doing something intimate together. He had his eyes closed and lay still on his bed as he let the younger boy’s mouth work on his dick. Then, without warning, Luke had pressed a finger in him. Ashton’s eyes had shot open at the intrusion and he had pushed Luke’s off him, so hard that Luke had fallen off the bed. Doing the only thing that he had felt right at that moment, he had shouted at Luke and had told him all kind of mean things that he had not really meant.

Of course, the younger boy had gone back to his bed with tears threatening to fall but Ashton had not cared. He had a girlfriend and he was not ready to have a finger in him because he was not into guys. The more he did things with Luke, the more Luke wanted and he was scared because at times he wanted to give in to Luke. Thinking back to that time, Ashton regretted his action because that was the before last time he had been with Luke and if at that time he had acted differently, things would have been different between them. Letting his mind drift to Luke’s lips, Ashton bit on his own lip and moved his hand faster while hissing. Luke’s lips; he wanted to kiss them, he wanted to feel them against his skin and he wanted to feel them on his dick. He cursed as he imagined Luke’s hand on his penis, instead of his own and involuntarily, he thrust upward as he tightened his grip around the length.

**Back in the corridor…**

Luke wiped his face with the towel that was hanging on his shoulder and sighed as he made his way back to his room. However, he stopped midway when he noticed the light that was coming from under Ashton’s door. Ashton was still awake? Moving closer to the wooden door, Luke pushed it open and regretted it instantly; Ashton was lying on the bed, naked, with his legs parted and his hand around his penis. They stared at each other until Luke stepped outside and closed the door again.

 


	7. Internal Torture

Luke frowned as he pulled on the grey tank top; he did not know he still owned that shirt and if he did, he was certain it was at the complete back of his closet and how did Ashton find that? He sighed, Ashton. the older boy was actually the reason why Luke was so quiet that morning. What the hell happened last night? How could he have been so stupid? Just because he saw the lights on, he assumed he could just walk into Ashton’s room? He felt dumb, guilty and embarrassed but mostly embarrassed. After all, Ashton was sprawled on the bed and he was jerking off. Luke may have been in that doorway for a few seconds before closing the door again but he could see what was happening before he had interrupted. He could clearly remember how Ashton’s fingers were wrapped around his dick. Luke could feel the heat in his cheeks and he could tell he was blushing.

He had gone back to his room, climbed into his own bed and pulled the blanket over him but that image kept replaying in his head and no matter what he did, he could not forget it. How was he going to face Ashton after that? Ashton was probably mad at him for barging in there and he could even be thinking that Luke went there on purpose. Slowly, he got down the stairs, hoping Ashton was not in the kitchen because he was surely not ready to face him yet and the least he wanted was for things to be awkward at breakfast table. He knew his grandma and she had eyes to spot the most unlikely things and she was definitely going to notice if things were weird between them. Luke breathed out through his mouth as he reached the kitchen and spotted his grandma by the sink but no Ashton in view. Finally smiling, he grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee before popping two slices of bread in the toaster.

“Good morning pumpkin,” Martha smiled and placed a plate in front of Luke. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning. Yeah, I did after so long.” Luke looked at the egg and bacon on his plate and then at the woman again. “Is Ashton still sleeping?”

“No, he came downstairs around an hour ago. He’s outside.”

Another sigh of relief; at least he would not have to worry about Ashton for a while and he happily brought some egg to his lips. That was when something caught his attention and a frown appeared on his forehead. He was right and Ashton was mad. Why else would he get up early? Because he knew Luke would wake up late and if he was up before that, they would not have to meet.

“Is something wrong? Is it the egg?” Martha asked and placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder.

“Huh?” Luke again frowned.

“You’re frowning at the food.”

“No, of course not,” Luke laughed. “I was just… thinking about something else. I missed this place.”

“We missed having you around as well. It has always been so cheerful when you’re here. You were always running around the house as a child, even as a teenager.”

“Well, I’m going to be here for a few more days, only, I won’t be running around anymore but maybe we could do some mischiefs together.”

“How about you help me prepare lunch?”

“Deal but only if we’re having red sauce and meat for dinner.”

“Alright.”

**In the shed…**

Ashton brushed the cow’s back while he lightly patted her. The moment he was done with breakfast, he had rushed outside, saying he wanted to help around with some work, although his aim was to avoid Luke and his plan was working. He had been in the shed for at least one and half hour and there was still no Luke around. Why would Luke be there? Ashton wanted to be outside because it had rain the previous night, it was all dirty and muddy and wet and he knew Luke would not want to be there. Quietly, his hands kept moving while his mind drifted somewhere else. Why was he avoiding Luke? Because of what had happened the previous night. He could not help but wonder what Luke was thinking about him; nothing good, he assumed. Just when things were starting to go right between them, Luke had to walk in on him while he was masturbating. As if the sexual tension that there was between them was not enough that that had to add to it.

Luke might have been there for two seconds but the expression on his face scared Ashton; Luke had stared at him with wide eyes, had not said anything and had slammed the door shut. What was Ashton supposed to make of it? That Luke was mad at him? Why wouldn’t he be? That was all he ever did lately; if he was not angry with him, he was ignoring him. Besides, that was only half of the problem, the other half was that he was embarrassed. He knew Luke had seen him naked before, had even seen him giving himself a hand job but that was different because those times, Luke had been naked as well and they had something going on. The previous night was nothing like those times, it was different on so many levels because Luke was no longer his boyfriend. Boyfriend? Ashton raised an eyebrow. When was Luke ever his boyfriend? Never, because he had never allowed it to happen.

“Hey Ashton.”

Ashton dropped the brush at the sound of Luke’s voice and looked at the figure in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing?” he asked and clutched the basket that was in his hand tighter as he neared the older boy. He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks already but he took a deep breath and tried to control himself.

“Grooming the cows. It’s…” he stopped mid-sentence and burst out laughing when Luke stopped in front of him. “What the hell?”

“Huh?” Luke frowned; he thought Ashton would be mad at him but he was laughing like a maniac.

“What are you wearing?” Ashton let his eyes roam over Luke, from head to toe. Luke was wearing a funny-looking hat, some funny-looking rubber boots and had a basket in one hand.

“It’s all wet outside, what do you want me to do? I can’t ruin my shoes. So I borrowed grandpa’s boots.”

“What about the funky hat?”

“I don’t want my hair to get wet. It’s been raining and with all this humidity, my hair is really not looking good. Besides, it was on the porch and I thought it looked cool.”

“Rain? Humidity? Seriously? Do you think there’s anyone who’s gonna care if your hair is not looking good? We’re on a farm.”

“And I hate farms.”

Ashton rolled his eyes. “What about the red-riding-hood-looking basket? What’s its story?” he asked with a smile, glad that things were not awkward between them and he was relieved that Luke was not mad at him.

“Right, the basket. We’re going to pluck some tomatoes.”

“We? Did you say we?”

“Hmm,” the younger boy nodded. “Grandma’s making red sauce and meat tonight and she asked me to pluck some fresh tomatoes for it.”

“She asked you. Why are you dragging me along?”

“So that you help me.”

“Luke, you work in a bakery, this should be easy for you. It’s your area of expertise.”

“Baking, not cooking. Come on let’s go. It’ll be fun. We’ll be walking down a muddy path to there. Isn’t that what you had in mind when you wanted to come here?”

“If you promise to be nice, I’ll go with you.”

“I’m always nice,” he grinned as he pinched Ashton’s chin.

“Fine, after you,” he said and followed Luke outside. “And what makes you think I’m a tomato plucking expert?”

“Well, everyone always thinks Ashton can do anything.”

“And you? What do you think?”

Luke paused for a moment; did Ashton really want to know that? “You’re my big brother and I trust you.”

Ashton hummed in response and let his eyes drift to Luke’s feet before again laughing.

“What’s funny now?”

“I don’t know, those boots…”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“I don’t know… the fact that they’re big and yellow.”

“At least I’m not getting my feet dirty,” he eyed Ashton’s crocs.

“Wait,” Ashton stopped and looked to his right.

**…::: Flashback :::…**

“Come on,” Ashton laughed as he ran down the path.

“Wait up!” Luke called behind him. “Ash, where are you?” he stopped and bent forward as he rested his palms against his knees and breathed heavily. “Ahh…”

“Come here,” Ashton said as he kept pulling on Luke’s arm and dragged him into the mini vineyard.

“What are we doing here?”

“Can you smell it?”

“What?”

“The grapes,” Ashton closed his eyes and inhaled.

“No, I can only smell trouble. Let’s go. We’re not supposed to be here.”

Ashton let out a little laugh. “Exactly. We’re not supposed to be here and no one will know or guess we are.”

“I don’t like this. I’m going.”

Luke turned around to leave but Ashton grabbed his hand and pulled him back to him, crashing their chests and connecting their lips in a brief kiss. “Will you stay now?”

“I don’t like you. You always make me change my mind,” the younger boy whined.

“Does that mean you’re staying?”

“What now? Are we going to have sex here?”

“What?” Ashton laughed. “No. we’re here to eat the grapes.”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to.”

“Grandpa only grows these because grandma likes to make grape jelly and nothing else. Besides, who’s gonna notice if there are one or two grapes missing?”

“I don’t like grapes,” Luke made a face.

“Oh yeah? Come and get this one.”

Ashton popped a grape between his teeth and motioned for Luke to come closer. Biting his lip, Luke walked towards him and stopped when his face was only inches away. He looked into Ashton’s eyes and licking his lips, he leant forward and instead of taking the grape into his mouth, he pushed it into Ashton’s opened one with the tip of his tongue. He then pressed his lips to Ashton’s and took the older boy’s bottom lip between his teeth before slightly pulling away and tugging on it. Laughing, he took a few steps backward and ran away.

“Poodle, come back here,” Ashton shouted and ran after the other boy.

“Come and get me.”

When Ashton reached him, Luke was sitting on the rope and tyre swing that was tied to that big old tree. “Come on, we were having fun.”

“Let’s have some fun on the swing instead. I don’t like grapes,” Luke repeated.

“Fine, get up.” Without giving Luke time, Ashton pulled him to his feet. He sat on the tyre and patted his lap.

“You want me to sit in your lap? Because if you scoot a little, I can fit there as well. It’s big enough for both of us.”

“You wanted to have fun on the swing, right?”

“Yeah,” Luke replied unsure.

“Trust me.”

Luke sighed and nodded. “Here we go.”

“No, not like this. You know how a baby koala hugs its mother? Like that.”

Luke shifted and wrapped his legs around Ashton’s waist as he placed his arms on the older boy’s shoulder. The moment he was in position, Ashton connected their lips. He gently moved them and as Luke closed his eyes, Ashton pushed the swing backward and lifted his feet off the ground, letting it go in the air. He laughed when Luke screamed and each time, he went higher and higher. Luke kept screaming, begging Ashton to stop as he gripped him tighter with both his hands and feet.

“Ashton, stop it,” Liz said loudly as she approached them.

They both gulped as they turned to look at their mother and Ashton tried to stop the swing. “Mom?”

“What do you think you’re doing? You’re scaring him. I could hear him shout from the house.”

“I’m not. We’re only playing.”

“You’re sixteen. You should know this is not call playing. Stop bullying your little brother.”

“I’m not. I’m sorry Luke. I’ll be gentle next time, I promise,” he smiled and winked at Luke.

Luke smiled back. “I forgive you.”

“But you’re still grounded. No dessert for you for a whole week. Back to the house, both of you now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll share mine,” the younger boy whispered as they walked away. “And if it’s grape pie, you can have it all.”

“And I’m sorry I scared you back there. I promise I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

**…::: End Of Flashback :::…**

“Ashton, hurry up. I wanna get inside before it rains again,” Luke said as he walked to him.

“Wait up. What happened to the vineyard?”

“I don’t know. But it’s a good thing it’s not here anymore.”

“Yeah, you don’t like grapes.” Ashton walked over to the big old tree that was close to where he was and stopped where the swing used to be; only the rope was left.

“And good thing this is gone,” Luke said from behind Ashton. “You nearly gave me a heart attack on it.”

Ashton turned around to look at him. “Yeah, but the next day you were desperate to try it again.”

“That was because I wanted you to get grounded again.”

“Liar. You and I both know why you wanted to try it again but never mind, that’s the past.”

Luke bit the inner side of his cheek as he took the rope in his hand. The reason why he wanted to do it again was because he loved to be close to Ashton, he loved when they kissed while lightly swinging, he simply loved anything that involved him being pressed to Ashton. “You remember how the swing broke?”

Ashton took the rope in his hand as well, slightly above Luke’s, and laughed. “Yeah. How can I forget?”

“Say it. Say it. We tried to have sex on it. What were we thinking?”

The older boy closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to that day. It was nearly six and the sun was setting; while all the adults were busy getting dinner done for their parent’s anniversary, they had snuck out. Ashton had said it like a crazy idea and he had no clue Luke had been thinking the same. Things had started pretty quickly and Ashton was sitting on the tyre while Luke was again in his lap but that time they were both naked and Luke was moving on Ashton’s penis. They were both engrossed in what they were doing when the rope had snapped and they had landed on the ground. Opening his eyes again, Ashton licked his lips; while thinking about what had happened, he had not realised how close Luke had moved, he was so close that Ashton could feel his breath on his cheek. They stayed like that, unmoving and staring into each other’s eyes for long minutes, until Luke leant in.

“Looks like it’s going to rain soon,” Ashton said as he turned his face. “Let’s go get the tomatoes.”

The older boy walked towards the tomato field, leaving Luke to stare at his back. He had no idea what had happened back there but he had promised Luke he would keep his distance and he was going to keep his words, no matter what the situation was. He was certain Luke had not meant to make a move on him; it was only the fact that they were both reminiscing old times and they got caught up in the moment. That was all it was about, nothing more. Besides, since he had returned, Luke had kept reminding him, every single day, that they were brothers and he had made it clear that he wanted nothing from Ashton. He had also told himself that if something were to happen, Luke would have to be the one who took the initiative but it looked like that was not going to happen in hundred years. Sighing, Ashton turned around and looked at Luke, who was looking at his foot and walking.

“Luke, come on,” he walked to the younger boy and took the basket from him. “I think the red ones are ready to be plucked.”

“I figured that part out.”

“Guess you didn’t need my help after all,” Ashton said and reached for a ripe tomato before putting it in the basket. “Why are you always so mean to me?”

“Because while growing up you were always bullying me, like I was wrapped around your little finger,” he smiled.

“You know that’s not true.”

Luke shrugged; he knew it was not true but he was not going to let Ashton know that. “Not in my eyes.”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

“I’m coming. Hey, Ash…” Luke took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about what happened by the swing… I didn’t…”

Ashton chuckled and toss two more tomatoes into the basket. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, nothing happened by the swing, none of what I can remember.”

“How do you do it?” Luke made a face as he tried to pull on a branch to get the bundle that he had set his eyes on.

“Not like that. Just pluck them one by one.”

“See, you’re a real tomato plucker.”

“I don’t believe that’s a word,” Ashton shook his head and they both went on to pluck more tomatoes. Turning around, Ashton looked at the basket, only to realise that it was full. “I think this will do.”

“Let’s go.”

Nodding, Ashton followed him. “I wonder what grandma’s making for dessert. Do you think I can ask her to make grape pie?”

“Fuck you. You know I hate that thing.”

“I still don’t know why. And the funnier thing is that everyone thinks you love them which is why you’d finish your share so fast when you’d in fact give it to me.”

“I know… good times. Woah…”

“Careful,” Ashton grabbed Luke’s arm and steadied him as he slipped.

“What is… ugh yuck!!!” Luke made a disgusted face as he looked at his foot and realised he had stepped onto cow poop. “Why? Why me? Why always me? Why not Ashton? He’s wearing crocs.”

The older boy laughed. “Holy shit…”

“You mean, cow shit…”

**Later that night…**

Luke ran his fingers through his hair and groaned. He pulled the blanket over his head and squeezed his eyes tighter; he had been trying to sleep for the past half hour but no matter what he tried, he was still wide awake. Why? Because of Ashton. When Ashton had turned away from the kiss, he had felt something. He did not know how to explain it but it was not a pleasant feeling. Something was pulling in his gut and it made him feel uneasy. He had thought Ashton had felt the same but he still could not believe how casually Ashton had brushed things off earlier. Ever since Ashton came back, all the older boy had been trying to do was to get close to him and all Luke did was push him away but when something was actually going to happen, he turned away. Why? All of those arguments, pinning and unresolved tension, for nothing? At least he had apologised about what had happened by the swing but what about the previous night? None of them had said anything.

When Luke had woken up that morning, he was certain he was going to spend the most awkward day and that Ashton was mad at him but none of those happened. Ashton did not scold him for barging in nor did he mention any of it. Was it because their grandparents were around? No, that could not be because they had spent plenty of time alone. Why did Ashton not say anything? Was he going to just brush it off like earlier? Because it was not the case with Luke; he could not un-see that. Knowing he would not be able to sleep until he got some answers, he pushed the blanket off him and walked to Ashton’s room. Luke paused for a moment in front of the door, wondering if he should go in or not. What if Ashton was asleep? What if he was busy doing other things? Those did not matter since Luke had already made up his mind to question Ashton, even if that meant he would have to wake him up or interrupt him in the middle of something. He lifted his hand and gently knocked on the door before opening it.

“Are you sleeping?” he whispered and walked further inside.

“Yes,” Ashton whispered back.

Rolling his eyes, Luke turned the table lamp on and took a seat on the bed. “Are you mad at me?”

“Why would you say that? We had so much fun today.”

“Huh… because of last night… I didn’t mean to. I saw the lights on and I assumed you couldn’t sleep.”

“That’s funny because I thought you’d be mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because I don’t know. I just thought.”

“No, you’re right. I should be mad at you. What were you thinking? Couldn’t you have covered yourself? Couldn’t you have done it under the blanket? Or turn the lights off? You were sprawled on the bed in the most indecent ways, what if grandma had walked in on you, instead of me?”

“Luke, it was almost midnight. I don’t think grandma was still awake at that time. By the way, what were you doing up?”

“I… huh… I had a bad dream and I had to splash some cold water on my face. So, you’re not mad at me for walking in on you.”

“No…”

“Good.” Deciding to do what he had wanted to earlier, Luke leant closer and without warning, he pressed his lips to Ashton’s.

Ashton pushed Luke away, the moment their lips connected, and took a deep breath. “What are you doing? Last time I kissed you, you slapped me. What am I supposed to do? Do the same?”

“But…”

“We’re brothers, remember?”

 


	8. Bad Decisions

Again with the basket in his hand, Luke walked to the tomato field; it had already been a week but he could still remember how much Ashton has laughed at him when he had worn his grandpa’s yellow rubber boots and that was why he was wearing his flip-flops. He paused and looked to the side, instantly rolling his eyes when he saw Ashton by the broken swing. He had wanted to go back home since Tuesday but Ashton had told him their mom had told them to stay back until the end of the week since both her and their dad would be joining them for a big family weekend. Luke could not be more grateful it was Saturday because that meant he would only be there for two more days and then he would go back to his normal life. With his eyes still on Ashton, he let out a sigh. He had thought Ashton wanted him and after reading all the signals that the older boy was sending him, he had finally made his move on him but only to get pushed away.

Was he wrong? Did Ashton not want him? Had he not been sending him signals? Or did he just imagine? But what about that time by the swing? They had almost kissed or was that his imagination as well? Whatever it was, a few nights ago, Ashton had made it clear that he did not want Luke after Luke had again made a fool out of himself in front of him. Why did he make such a bad decision? Bad was an understatement, it was the worst decision that he had ever made. He still wondered why when it concerned Ashton, he always ended up making the dumbest decision. It was probably because he was still head over heels in love with him, despite convincing himself that he had moved on and everything he felt towards the other boy was only brotherly attachment; even though Ashton had pushed him away so many times, he could not bring himself not to love him the way he did.

While thinking, he had not realised he was currently staring at Ashton’s bare chest as the boy was attempting to fix the swing; yes, because Ashton knew he had a great physique and he liked to be shirtless. Cursing, Luke averted his eyes. He should not be looking at Ashton’s body, nor should he be thinking about placing his hands on it or having it on top of him. He shook his head and walked away while muttering to himself. At the sound of Luke’s voice, Ashton turned around to see him walking away. It had already been so many days but he knew Luke was still avoiding him; he knew that because when Luke was avoiding someone, he would always make sure the person knew he was avoiding him, especially if that person was Ashton. However, Ashton could not really blame Luke as even he was mad at himself. Ever since he had found out that his feelings for Luke had resurfaced, all he wanted to do was to get closer to the younger boy, he had tried so many things to do that and when Luke had finally come to him, he had pushed him away, in a rude way, if he might add.

Luke had kissed him and he had pushed him away. He did not know what had gotten into him that night but he definitely regretted it. He had probably ruined the only chance he had to get back with Luke. He was a jackass and he knew it. To add to it, it was not the first time he had done something like that; even in the past he had rejected Luke and destroyed whatever there was between them. He had hurt Luke then and had done it again. Since he had pushed Luke away that night, all he could think about was Luke. If he really gave it a thought, there were lots of things that was left broken because of him and his bad decisions, which included ending things with Luke a few years back. Ashton had made up his mind, he was going to fix everything that he could, starting with the swing and working his way to Luke’s heart again. No matter how hard it would be or how long it would take, he would do it. He might have been scared of wanting more from Luke in the past but at that time he was naïve and was worried about what people would think of him but he knew what he wanted now and he did not care about anything else.

He was brought back to reality when Luke swore loudly; the younger boy had again stepped on cow’s poop. “Holy shit,” he whispered and tried no restrain himself from laughing.

“Ugh…” Luke groaned and shook his foot, trying to get the poop off and while doing so, he lost his balance and landed into it.

Ashton could no longer hold himself and laughed loudly, only to earn a glare from Luke. “This is priceless.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and took a couple of photos.

“Ashton, you son of a turtle. You better delete that picture or I’ll make you eat this shit.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Try me.”

“I know you won’t put your hand in it. You’re too much of a pussy.”

“Watch me,” making a face, Luke shove his hand into the poop, scooped some and threw it at Ashton.

“Missed me. Haha.”

**Later that evening…**

“Is everything alright between you two? You haven’t been fighting again, have you?” Liz asked as she looked between Luke and Ashton.

“Of course not, mom. You know how much I love my little bro,” Ashton reached behind their grandma, who was sitting between him and Luke, and ruffled Luke’s hair, messing it in the process.

“Quit it,” Luke groaned.

“Are you sure?” Andy raised an eyebrow at Luke. “Because Luke hasn’t been looking happy since the morning and neither at dinner. And he should have, there was his favourite dessert.”

“It’s just because of the little incident that happened in the morning,” Ashton stated.

“Incident?” their mom frowned. “What kind of incident?”

“Well…”

“Don’t you dare,” Luke warned.

“He was going to pluck tomatoes this morning and he fell in a big pile of dung. It was a one-of-a-kind action and I couldn’t help myself but to get some pictures. That’s why he’s mad,” he ended with a tiny laugh.

“Pictures?”

“Yeah, you wanna look at them?”

The moment Andy nodded, Ashton got his phone and handed it to him before the two of them started laughing. As the phone was passed from hand to hand, everyone joined in. Luke got up, stomped his foot and made his way upstairs.

“Luke? Come on honey,” Liz called after him but he ignored her.

“Don’t worry mom, he’ll be fine.”

Once he closed the door to his room, Luke let out a frustrated groan; falling into shit and having Ashton witness it was one thing but having his whole family know about it and laugh at him was another kind of embarrassment. It was the kind of embarrassment that hurt one’s ego and he was not in a mood to deal with that at the moment. All that happened because of Ashton; if he had kept his big mouth shut, no one would have known and no one would have laughed. He had to talk to Ashton because the older boy clearly gained some satisfaction by making fun of him. He would have to wait though as Ashton was still downstairs and he did not want to go and face his parents or grandparents. Later, he would do it later, once that dumbass has retreated to his room.

**One and a half hour later…**

Luke again walked from the window to the bed and then back to the window; he had been doing that for the past forty minutes while waiting for Ashton while thinking about what he would say to him. He already had a few things ready but he was trying to come up with better ways of putting them, just so they sounded more dramatic and made him look even more like a victim. It had been a few minutes since Ashton had come upstairs but Luke wanted to give him some time to settle before attacking him; in fact, he did not know how to approach the older boy but he was trying to convince himself otherwise. Taking a deep breath, he exited his room and walked down the hallway to the door that he dreaded to open. He was such a confused person; one moment he was ready to fight and the next, he did not really know if that was what he wanted. Luke shook his head and pushed those thoughts away before opening the door and finding an empty room. His eyes instantly drifted to the stairs that led to the attic and slowly, he made his way to there.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Hey,” Ashton lifted his head and smiled. “Well, I thought since it’s our last night here, I’ll spend it in here. The best memories I have in this house are up here.”

Without saying anything, he walked further into the room and took a seat on the bed. “Yeah, I know.” There he was, wanting to kick himself. He wanted to say ‘why did you do this?’ but somehow those words died at the tip of his tongue.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Huh…” Luke cleared his throat. “What brings me here? You. We have to talk.”

Luke wanted to talk? That was a good thing, considering he had been ignoring him all week. Besides, Ashton wanted to make things better. “Yes, I think you’re right. We definitely need to talk. It can’t go on like this; either you’re mad at me or you’re ignoring me. That’s all that has been happening since I came back.”

‘You’re the reason for it,’ he wanted to say out loud but could not. Sighing, he spoke again. “Can we stop fighting?”

“We’re not fighting. You’re mad at me because I showed the pictures to everyone.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what happened before.”

“When you fell in cow shit and I didn’t help you?”

Luke groaned. “No, even before that.”

“Before that? Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ashton stuck his lower lip out and shook his head. “Nope.”

The younger boy took a deep breath, wondering how he should say it; he also knew Ashton was doing it on purpose. The way Ashton was looking at him intently while his lips were slightly parted; those were things that always made his inside do somersaults and blood rush to his cheeks. That was when he realised Ashton was shirtless and it made him wonder if he was wearing anything under that blanket that was pulled up to his hips. Of course he was wearing something, what was he thinking? On the other hand, Ashton could not help but let his eyes drift to Luke’s lips; the other boy seemed lost in his thought and at the same time, was biting on his lower lip. That was not all because Luke was wearing a loose tank top and his nipple was peeking at the top. He wanted to rip it off him and put his hands on his body, which was so much more toned than when he had last touched him.

“Luke?” Ashton whispered.

“Hmm…”

“Do you think maybe we can…”

“Yeah, we probably should…”

The moment that left his mouth, he climbed into Ashton’s lap, straddling his thighs, and connected their lips as he wrapped his arms around the other boy’s neck. Instinctively, Ashton enclosed his arms around his waist and kissed him back. The moment that he had been waiting for since the past weeks had finally come and the feelings were overwhelming. Just when he wished that instant would never end, Luke pulled away and looked into his eyes; those eyes, he could almost get lost in them. They kept the eye contact for a few seconds before claiming each other’s lips again. He sucked on Luke’s bottom lip and the younger boy gasped. As Luke lightly rocked his hips back and forth, Ashton trailed his mouth to his chin and left a series of kisses along the other boy’s jawline, down the side of his neck and then to his shoulder. Once his mouth reached there, one of his hands moved up his arm and pushed the strap of his top out of the way. Doing the same to the other strap, he let the tank top slide down Luke’s chest so that it was resting around his waist.

Luke moaned; Ashton had bitten on his shoulder lightly and it was sending shivers down his spine. For so many years, he had waited, had wanted and had wished for that to happen and now that it was all happening, he felt like he was on cloud nine. Ashton’s lips were leaving kisses all over his chest and that was all Luke needed not to be mad at him anymore. Slowly, he let his hand trail down Ashton’s chest, feeling his abs, and placed it on Ashton’s penis before rubbing him through his boxers. That action instantly caused a moan to leave the older boy’s mouth and smiling, Luke slipped his hand inside. He gently wrapped his fingers around Ashton’s semi-hard dick and tugged on it. Although he did not do much, Ashton hissed and that made him repeat that action. When Ashton again pressed their lips together, Luke closed his eyes and palmed himself. It was only a matter of seconds before Ashton slapped his hand away and replaced it with his own. Luke moaned into his mouth and Ashton pulled his hand away teasingly; he was not touching Luke and he was not letting the younger boy do it either.

As a revenge, Luke squeezed his cock harder and Ashton cursed; he had forgotten that Luke was no longer the little innocent boy he used to know but a confident and daring Luke and he had to admit he liked it. As the clock ticked, Luke hand went faster while his mouth was leaving a chain of kisses to the side of the older boy’s neck. Ashton was breathing harder against him and Luke knew he was close. Thus, he kept moving his hand at the same fast pace, until he felt something wet and warm on his knuckles and he slowed down. He rested his forehead against Ashton’s and pumped his own penis while the other boy was trying to catch his breath. He wanted to come as well but Ashton again pushed his hand away. In a swift motion, he threw Luke onto his back, causing him to let out a little laugh, and pulled his pyjama bottom and tank top off at one go; he raised an eyebrow when he realised Luke was not wearing any underwear but he quickly brushed it off.

He settled between Luke’s legs and bending forward, he took Luke’s dick into his hand and brought it to his mouth. Glancing at the younger boy’s face, he licked the head a couple of times before twirling his tongue around it. Then, he gradually took the length about halfway into his mouth and pulled it out, only to repeat it again. Every time he would take it in, he would go deeper, until he had taken all of Luke’s penis into his mouth. Ashton was sucking him harder and Luke was nearing his orgasm. He grabbed a fistful of the older boy’s hair to guide his mouth as he thrust his hips upward. Closing his eyes tightly, Luke moaned and came into Ashton’s mouth. Ashton looked directly into Luke eyes and swallowed everything before moving to settle next to him. He pressed a kiss to the side of his head, wrapped his arm around Luke’s waist and closed his eyes.

 


	9. Deja-vu

Luke unbuttoned his shirt, bundled it in a ball and tossed it onto his chair. He was so tired of everything that was happening in his life and he just wanted to press a pause button. He had told himself countless times that he would never make the same mistakes again but then Ashton came back after years and he was looking so good that it made Luke’s inside go crazy; suddenly all he wanted was that body against his, those arms around him, those hands on his body and those lips on his lips.

“Fuck,” Luke groaned as he grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled on it; why could he never get Ashton out of his head?

Despite his brain reasoning him to stay away from the other boy again and again, he felt more and more drawn towards him. Yes, he had given in to those feelings that he had buried deep within. Although he had only given Ashton a handjob while Ashton had given him a blowjob, those did not make things better. He could still remember the next morning as though it was yesterday.

**…::: Flashback :::…**

Luke smiled and cleared his throat as he stretched his arms over his head; the previous night was unlike any other nights that he had spent in years and he felt so happy. He knew he did not want to visit his grandma but that was only because he knew going there would bring a change in his life. He was right; it did. Despite all his attempts to stay away from Ashton, he knew what he wanted the most was Ashton and in the end, nothing could stop them from getting together. Luke rolled onto his side to hug Ashton but his palm landed on the mattress. He moved his hand to feel the empty spot before slowly opening his eyes and looking around the room. He was alone and the bed beside him had already turned cold; which meant, Ashton had been gone for a while. Deciding to go downstairs as well, he pushed the sheet off him and frowned when he could not find his clothes anywhere on the floor. He quickly looked on the chair, in case Ashton had put it there, but it was not there either.

Finally getting to his feet, he knelt on the floor and peeped under the bed but to no avail. He cursed; Ashton probably did that intentionally. Luke looked outside the little window and, judging by how high the sun already was, he could guess it was not so early. His parents and grandparents were definitely awake already and he did not want to risk going back to his room naked. The previous night, Ashton had embarrassed him by telling everyone how he had fell into cow shit. Everybody, except him, had laughed and he did not want to embarrass himself any further. What if he was mid-way down the stairs and… No, Luke shook his head. He was not going to chance it. The best thing to do was to call Ashton and ask him to help, since he was the one who had put him in that situation. Luke reached for his phone on the bedside table but again cursed when he realised he had left his phone back in his room. Taking a deep breath, he walked to the door but did not open it when he heard footsteps on the first floor.

Once it was quiet, he opened the door a little, poked his head outside to see if the coast was clear and then ran to his room. Phew! He made it. Luke pressed his back against the door and sighed. He almost jolted when he heard a loud grumble and realised he was hungry. Pulling some clothes on, he checked the time on his phone, noticing it was not as late as he had thought, and walked downstairs.

“Good morning, honey,” Liz smiled when he walked into the kitchen. “Right on time for breakfast.”

“Morning,” he mumbled and raised an eyebrow when he saw Ashton already sitting at the table; Ashton, who happened to be wearing ‘his’ pyjama pants.

Ashton eyed Luke, who looked pissed, and he kept his eyes on him as the younger boy walked around the table to take a seat opposite of him. The next second, Luke kicked him in the foot and laughing, Ashton pulled his legs that were stretched under the table closer to him. “Morning. Slept well?” he chuckled.

Luke ignored him and poured himself some orange juice. “Morning grandma.”

“Good morning sweetheart,” she sighed.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes yes, the long way to the attic made me lose my breath. I swear, the stairs get longer when you get older.”

“The attic?” Liz asked.

“Yes, I swear I heard some noises in the attic last night. I went to check but there’s nothing. Probably just rodents.”

“Yeah, probably just a big rat,” Luke laughed at Ashton, who had spilled his coffee on himself the moment their grandma mentioned the attic.

“Are you ok sweetie?” grandma asked and handed him a napkin to dry himself. “Aren’t those the pants that Luke wore last night?”

Ashton felt his cheeks turn pink and he cleared his throat to keep his cool because he knew Luke was looking at him with that smug smile. “Hmm… actually, I was feeling a little cold last night and… went to ask Luke if he had a spare pair of pants. Since he didn’t, he offered me these.”

Luke rolled his eyes at how easily Ashton had lied to their grandma. He turned to the older boy and mouthed ‘jerk’ before directing his attention to his plate.

“What? The omelette doesn’t taste good?” Ashton said out loud.

“What’s wrong Luke?” Liz frowned.

“Huh… what? Nothing, it’s just Ashton being a prick.”

“Hey, what’d I do? I only repeated what you told me.”

“That’s not what I said. You, big fat liar.”

“Quit it, both of you. You two are grown up but you still act like kids, bickering at every opportunity you get.”

**…::: End of Flashback :::…**

That was the last time Ashton had spoken to him and it had been three days since they were back home and the only conversation that happened between them was only a ‘hey’. He did not know if he was overreacting or it was only part of his imagination but he was feeling like he had felt before. Ashton wanted him in bed and now that he had had him, he was only going to toss him aside, just like in the past. He was going crazy and even Michael and Calum had noticed something was wrong because for the past three days they had been asking him about it and he had been averting their questions, saying he was tired. The only reason he did not want to tell them was because they were definitely going to lecture him and they would be right to because they had warned him several times not to get involved in that mess. He wanted to confide in someone but he did not know who to talk to though.

“How much longer are you going to stare at that pillow?”

Luke turned to the side at the sound and realised Michael was leaning against his doorframe. “Hey.”

“Hey?” Michael repeated. “Hey is not gonna work this time.”

“Where’s Calum?”

“How am I supposed to know? He’s not my wife and I don’t live with him,” Michael rolled his eyes and walked into the room. “But since you asked, he’s in the kitchen.”

“Nope, I’m right here,” the brunette said and walked towards them with a plate of sandwiches and three beers.

“Where’s Ashton?” Michael asked.

“How am I supposed to know? He’s not my wife and I don’t live with him,” Luke laughed.

“Wrong. You do live with him. Where’s he?”

“I’ve got no fucking idea,” Luke frowned and took a bite of his sandwich.

“Hmm…” Calum nodded. “You look mad. Did something happen?”

“What makes you think so?”

“Because you’re always annoyed when you don’t get what you want or when Ashton does something that you want him to but then regret later.”

“Of course Ashton did something. They were away for a whole fucking week. He must have tried something. What happened?” Michael wriggled his eyebrows.

Luke sighed. “Don’t ask me.”

“You know, when you say it like that, it makes me want to know even more. Tell us. We’re your best friends. If you don’t tell us, we’ll ask Ashton. Then he’ll know that we know. Let’s go Calum. We aren’t needed here.”

“You’re just a fucking asshole. You always do that.”

“That’s what friends do,” Michael laughed.

“What happened?” Calum asked. “Did you guys have sex?”

“Of course they did. If I went on a trip on a farm for a whole week with my lover, all we would do is have sex as well.”

Calum shook his head. “You don’t have a lover or a farm. Besides, Luke is not you.”

“Right. So buddy, tell us so we can help,” Michael asked and pressed the chilled beer bottle against Luke’s cheek.

“We didn’t have sex. I mean… we sorta did but we didn’t.”

“Ok,” Michael nodded as he tried to understand what Luke said. “Do you think you could elaborate more?”

“I gave him a handjob and he sucked me. It was good but then he didn’t speak to me again since then.”

“You think he regrets it?” Calum asked.

“I don’t know, we have spoken. Maybe he does. That’s why he doesn’t want to talk to me. But I don’t know… I could be wrong.”

“What about you? Didn’t you try to talk to him?”

“No, what am I gonna say?”

“You can’t do this again Luke. Last time he wanted to end everything and you just went along, even though it had hurt you.”

“Yeah, Calum’s right. You gotta do something about it.”

“Yeah but what?”

“I don’t know. Just man up a little.”

“You’re right,” Luke said confidently and nodded. Then, he sighed and whined, “what am I gonna do?”

“Just face him. Tell him everything you need to tell him, whether he wants to hear it or not.”

“Michael has a point. It can’t go on like this.”

“That’s what I’m gonna do. Thanks guys, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Sit in your room and sulk. Stare at your pillow and sulk more. Keep staring at the pillow, hoping it would give you an idea but it can’t because it doesn’t have a brain and neither can it talk.”

“Come on, Poodle. Give us a hug,” Calum grinned.

“Don’t call me that. I told you only Ashton can.”

“Ok, ok. Come on. Do you think we can watch a movie after dinner?”

“You’re staying?”

“Yeah, your mom invited us.”

“Yes, sleepover,” Michael shouted happily.

**Two days later…**

Luke rolled on his other side and stared at the clock. Two days had passed since he had talked to Michael and Calum and he had finally muster the courage and decided to confront Ashton. He pulled the blanket higher up his chest and went over things in his head before realising he had not really planned what to tell the older boy. All he knew was that he had to go in front of him and ask for answers; as for what he had to say, he had no idea. Anyways, the fact that it was still five in the morning gave him plenty of time to figure something out. Luke let his mind drift to Ashton and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, forty-five minutes had passed and he quickly got off the bed. By the time he got ready for work and went downstairs, he only found his mom, who was dusting the living room.

“Where’s Ashton?”

“Ashton? He left with your dad.”

“Dad left? How am I gonna get to work? You know I don’t like taking the train.”

“I know. He wanted to wait but you were still in the bathroom.”

“What about you? Aren’t you going to work?”

“No, I have some other things to do.”

“Ok… I’ll get a ride with Calum or Michael then. Bye mom.”

“Don’t you want some breakfast?”

“No, I’ll get something on the way.”

**Later that day…**

Luke looked at the office door that had not opened once since he had arrived and wondered when Ashton would get out. His dad had told him that Ashton was doing some office work and he had not come out once. How long did it take to do that because as far as he was concerned, office work only involved looking at some papers? Luke sighed as he glanced at his watch; he was on break and he still had ten minutes left and each passing seconds was getting the best of him. He was growing more and more impatient and, following his instincts, he walked to the door and opened it. He closed it behind him and frowned at Ashton, who was at the desk; he did not even look up when Luke locked the door. Luke walked to the desk in a few strides and slammed his palms on the table.

“We need to talk,” Luke said firmly.

“Luke, I’m busy. We’ll talk when we get home,” he replied without looking up and went on to bite the end of his pen.

Taking a deep breath, Luke closed the file that was on the table, in front of Ashton and pulled the pen out of his mouth. “You listen to me, Ashton. We will talk, right here and right now, whether you like it or not.”

Ashton eventually lifted his head and stared at him without saying anything.

 


	10. Under Control

Ashton sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Seriously Luke? Do we have to do this right now? I’m busy.”

“It’s not my fault if dad wants to overload you with work. All I know is that we have to talk.”

“We’ll talk when we get home. I already told you. It can wait because I’m sure it’s unimportant and unnecessary.”

Luke straightened himself and crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at Ashton. So, he was unimportant and unnecessary? “I’m not that skinny Luke anymore, the one that you can use and then toss aside when you’re done.”

“What?” Ashton frowned. “What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?”

“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t try to act all innocent. This has happened before and like hell I’m going to let it happen again.”

“Luke,” the older boy glanced at the door when Luke’s voice kept getting louder and louder. He got up and walked around the table to stand next to him. “Can you keep it down? This is just a big misunderstanding,” he continued after placing a calming hand on Luke’s shoulder.

“Misunderstanding? I think things are pretty clear from where I’m standing. You can’t do this to me again, Ashton.”

“I’m not doing anything. You’re… I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. You did it before and you’re doing it again.” He turned to face Ashton and poke him in the chest with his index. “And I’m not letting that happen.”

“Luke…” Ashton reach out to caress Luke’s cheek with the back of his fingers.

Luke slapped his hand away. “No.”

Ashton kept his eyes on Luke’s face; he did not know what was going on in Luke’s head and he realised talking was not going to help. Instead, he grabbed the front of his uniform and crashed their lips together, taking Luke completely by surprise. Just like he had thought, he felt Luke relax against him and, wrapping his arms around the younger boy, he walked them to the sofa. It was only when his back hit against the couch that Luke realised what was going to happen and he pressed his palm to Ashton’s chest to halt him. Ashton knew that that was his weakness and he was using it against him; as always Luke was being the toy in his hand. No, Luke was not going to let himself be manipulated again. Smiling, Ashton took the hand that was on his chest in his and pressed little kisses to each of his knuckles before linking their fingers and holding his hand above his head. Then, he laid a series of kisses along Luke’s jaw to his chin.

Luke took a deep breath to try and set things straight in his head because he was lying on the couch, with Ashton on top of him, and all of his rational thoughts were quickly dissipating. He was still trying to recover when he felt Ashton undoing the buttons of his baby blue shirt and the moment Ashton’s hand was on his skin, Luke’s brain stopped working. He closed his eyes when Ashton’s mouth moved to his chest and let out a gasp as the older boy circled his nipple with the tip of his tongue. Instinctively, he laced his fingers through Ashton’s hair and guided his mouth back to his. Ashton tried to move his kisses to Luke’s stomach but, freeing his hand, Luke had locked both his arms around Ashton’s neck and had held him in place. He had missed those lips on his; no matter how mad he might have been at Ashton, Luke knew he loved kissing Ashton and now that Ashton was kissing him, he wanted to do it proper.

“We’ll talk when we get home,” he said and placed a kiss to the tip of Luke’s nose.

“I don’t want to talk. I want you. Now,” Luke whispered.

Ashton let out a little laugh and straightened himself. “Get back to work Luke.”

Luke raised an eyebrow but then smirked before climbing into Ashton’s lap. “You may work in the office but that doesn’t mean you’re the boss.”

“Then who is? You?”

“Technically I am because I’ve worked here longer than you, no matter how educated you are.”

“Ok, boss. Let me get back to work.”

“No, the boss says you have to have sex with him first,” he leant forward and licked Ashton’s lips.

“Luke… this is not the place.”

Shaking his head, Luke pushed him backward and loomed over him. He connected their lips while his hands moved to unbutton his shirt. Next, he went on to open his pants and he wasted no time to slip his hand inside. Ashton bit on his lower lip and restrained himself from letting out any sound; the least he wanted was for someone to hear them. When Luke slid down his body, Ashton lifted his head to look at him and he cursed the minute he saw Luke pushing his boxers out of the way. In turn, Ashton lifted his hips to allow the other boy to pull the pants all the way down his legs and Luke only smiled at the action; two minutes earlier, Ashton did not want to have sex with him but at the moment, he was more than eager to get naked. Licking his lips, he pressed them to the inner side of Ashton’s thigh and moved them upwards to his balls, leaving a wet trail behind. He took the balls into his hand and rubbed them as he sucked on his hip.

He got to his feet, bent down and pressed a kiss to Ashton’s lips before whispering to him. “Suck me.”

Ashton was about to get up but Luke shoved him back down. He toed his shoes, got rid of his pants before climbing back on top of Ashton. Ashton frowned and it was only after Luke had settled down, with his knees on either sides of Ashton’s head and his head right above his crotch that Ashton understood what was happening. He lifted his head and took the head of Luke’s penis into his mouth, just like Luke was doing to him. Every time Luke would lick the head, Ashton would do the same and he made sure to copy all of Luke’s actions. Eventually, he let go and, sucking on two fingers to coat them with saliva, he guided them to Luke’s hole. Slowly, he pushed one of them inside and Luke hummed low in his throat. He moved the finger around for a couple minutes and then he added the other one. As he moved them in and out, he again took Luke’s dick into his mouth.

Luke pulled Ashton’s dick out of his mouth with a pop and rested his forehead against the older boy’s hip as he jerked him off. He gasped when the older boy scissored his fingers and, in turn, Luke squeezed his cock and laughed when Ashton cursed. Sucking in a breath, Luke shut his eyes tight as the other boy kept fingering him fast and sucking him hard and he tried to keep the movements of his hand going. With a grunt, Luke thrust his hips and came into Ashton’s mouth; his breathing was irregular and his heart was racing but he kept pumping Ashton. He sped up the pace and bit on Ashton’s stomach. Judging by the way Ashton was thrusting into his fist, Luke knew he was close and he enclosed his lips around the head of his dick as he kept pumping the base. Ashton shot his load into Luke’s mouth and after a few more pumps, Luke moved away.

“Damn,” Ashton simply said. “You keep surprising me.”

“And we still need to talk. About what happened. You can’t just give me hope every time and then crush it.”

“What? Back to that? I don’t even know what I did.”

“You don’t? I’m talking about what happened at grandma’s. I love you damn it and I can’t take the rejection all the time.”

Love? Did he hear right? Or was he only dreaming? No, he was not because he was very much sure Luke was naked with him in the office at the very moment. “Yeah, I… I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Yeah but you didn’t. You fucking ignored me.”

Ashton shook his head. “I didn’t ignore you. Dad gave me so much work and there was so many things pending and I’m trying to take care of everything. Trust me, this is nothing like what I learned in classrooms. I’m trying to deal with everything and I guess I kept pushing talking to you because this,” he pointed to the desk. “Seemed more important.”

“So, I’m unimportant?”

“Of course not… fuck, this is hard. No, you aren’t. I’m just… I don’t know. Can you give me some time? And I’m not trying to push you away. Trust me, it’s the least I want.” He took Luke’s hand into his and kissed it. “Give me some time. Let me be done with these paper work and then I’m all yours.”

“Promise?”

“I can’t promise because the longer you keep me away from work, the longer it will take.”

“Fine. I’m leaving.”

Luke straightened his clothes and walked out the door with a big smile plastered on his lips. He walked back to the staff room and dropped himself on a chair.

“Calum? Will you just take a look at that smile?”

Luke lifted his head to look at Michael and Calum. “Hey guys. You’re on break?”

“Yeah and you’re not supposed to be. Where have you been?”

“You told me to talk to Ashton. So, I was in the office, talking to him.”

“And I’m pretty sure it was more than talking,” Michael laughed.

“You mean like, they had sex in the office?” Calum frowned.

“Affirmative. When was the last time you saw a grin like that on Luke’s face?”

“That’s disgusting,” Calum made a face. “You probably still have his cum in your ass. Ugh!”

“Stop it, guys,” Luke looked at his hand, in embarrassment, but a tiny smile stayed on his lips.

“Not his ass… his mouth,” Michael again laughed as he pointed to the white substance on Luke’s chin.

“That’s even more disgusting. Gross,” Calum muttered and handed Luke a tissue. “And please, wash your face and hands before you touch anything.”

**That same evening**

Luke hummed happily as he made his way inside the house; Ashton had left the bakery early and that could only mean one thing: he was done with the work that dad had given him and there was nothing that could come between them. He was about to make his way upstairs when he hit a box and almost lost his balance. That was when he realised there were more cardboard boxes in the corridor.

“Mom? What are these for? Are we renovating?”

“No,” Liz laughed. “They’re for Ashton.”

“Ashton?”

“Honey, can you come and give me a hand?” she asked as she made her way to the kitchen.

“Yeah…” Luke walked there and looked around. He took the knife and began chopping the vegetables that were on a plate on the counter.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you with dinner?”

“Luke, I’m making mac and cheese. I don’t need these.”

“What does Ashton need so many boxes for?”

“He said he wanted to move out. He has found a nice apartment.”

What? An apartment? Move out? Leaving him again? Without talking to him? That was the limit.

“Luke, what are you doing?” Liz sighed and took the knife from him. “What am I going to do with this boy?”

Luke looked down at the veggies and realised he had unconsciously been mincing them. “Sorry. I… I’m gonna get a shower.”

Ashton took a shirt to fold it but took a seat instead as he stared at the shirt. It was a very old shirt that he had since he was a teenager and he remembered how Luke used to like to steal it and wear it because he loved it. Ashton sighed; Luke. Luke had told him he loved him. Luke had actually told him he was in love with him. Goosebumps appeared on his skin at the thought of that. Luke’s words still echoed in his head and he genuinely did not want to get rid of them. He had waited for so long to hear those three little words and he could not describe what he was feeling. They were stuck in his head and he could no longer concentrate on anything else, which was why he had returned home early. There was only one thing he regretted: he wished he had told Luke he loved him back. He wanted to but Luke’s words had caught him by surprise and he was so overjoyed and the words had not come out of his mouth.

Luke huffed when he reached Ashton’s door; the older boy was sitting on the bed and smiling like an idiot. Looking at his feet, Luke grabbed the shoe that was by the door and threw it at Ashton. He then grabbed the other one and tossed it at him. Next, he took the object that was on the drawers.

“Luke,” Ashton said carefully. “Put the vase down.”

Luke looked at his hand and realised what he had grabbed before placing it back where he had found it. “Ashton, you’re such a jerk.”

Ashton sighed; what had he done now? “What’s wrong?”

“You dare ask me? How can you do this to me? After what you had said earlier?”

“I meant every words I said.”

“Why are you leaving? Without even telling me?”

“Because I’m leaving with you.”

“You’re such an asshole. I trusted you… wait! What did you say? Did you say with me?” Luke looked at him with confused eyes.

Ashton could not help but smile at how cute Luke looked. “I was thinking… maybe we can… have our own place. If you’d like of course.”

“Are you kidding? I’d love to.” Luke rushed towards him and pulled him in a tight hug.

“And there’s something else I want to tell you. I love you.”

The moment that left his mouth, Luke pressed their lips together. He had waited for Ashton to say that for the past six years and happiness was a small word to describe what he was feeling. “I love you so fucking much.”

“Come here,” Ashton whispered and pulled him into another hug.

“Ashton, sweetie, can you help me move the cabinet that’s in my room?” Liz asked as she poked her head through the door and smiled at them.

“I’ll be right there, mom.”

“Fuck, that was close,” Luke whispered once their mom was gone.

“Yeah, more reasons to have our own place.”

Luke hummed. “Yeah, now that you’re done with whatever work dad gave you and we have our own place, maybe we can…”

“About that… I’m not done yet.”

“What? Why’d you leave the bakery so early then?”

“After talking to you, it was all I could think about. You’re such a distraction.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, biggest one in my life,” Ashton smiled.

“Go on. Mom’s waiting for you,” Luke slapped him playfully in the arm.

“And you, get some packing done.”

“Hey Ashton,” Luke called when the other boy reached the door. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

 


	11. Epilogue

“Yay, we’re done,” Ashton dropped himself on a chair and downed half a bottle of water.

“This has been fun,” Luke smiled.

“Are you kidding? I can’t even lift a finger anymore. I’m exhausted. I could just fall asleep right here and right now.”

“No, you can’t. We still have to make dinner. I told mom and dad to come over tonight.”

“Seriously? Couldn’t you have invited them tomorrow or something?”

“It’s our first night here and I wanted mom and dad to be here with us.”

“I have to tell you. I still can’t cook.”

Luke stared at him. “What did you use to eat when you were at uni?”

“I used to eat out or order a pizza,” Ashton shrugged. “So, dinner’s on you.”

“I can’t cook.”

“Then? What did you use to eat?”

“I stayed with mom. She made dinner every day,” Luke wriggled his eyebrows. “Never had to cook.” He pulled his phone from his pocket when it buzzed and grinned at the screen.

“What is it?”

“It’s mom. She said she knows we’d be tired. So, she’s making dinner.”

“Oh, I love that woman.”

“Now that we don’t have to worry about dinner, I can think of a few things that we could do.” Ashton pulled Luke into his lap and ran a hand down his chest. Then he pressed his lips to the side of Luke’s face, leaving a few pecks there.

Laughing, Luke got up and looked around the room. “You know what? Finally, let’s put the table there and put the couch over here.”

“That’s what I said before but you wanted to put the couch there.”

“You’re so indecisive,” Luke commented and Ashton rolled his eyes. “Don’t give me that attitude. We just have to do the living room and then we’re done. Now, get your ass off that chair and help me move this couch.”

Ashton sighed and got up; they had been at that all day and he was truly tired. Luke had been doing it all day, telling Ashton to put the furniture in a way but then would eventually end up setting them the way Ashton wanted. When he was finally done, Ashton dropped himself on the couch.

“Yes, home,” Luke said excitedly. “Thank you Ashton, you’re simply the best.”

“Luke, there’s something I want to tell you. I’m sorry, like really.”

Luke’s smile was replaced by a frowned; why was Ashton apologising? “What?”

“You know, for the way I acted in the past. The way I ended things. I knew you were crying and I felt so bad but I still didn’t do anything about it. Honestly. I didn’t want to end things but I was so scared. The more time I spent with you, the more I wanted you and that was freaking me out. I was starting to feel things for you, things I knew I shouldn’t be feeling. I was scared people would think I’m weird. I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that and I realise that now. Can you ever forgive me for that?”

“Hey don’t worry. Everybody gets cold feet.”

“But you never did.”

“I did… I was scared all the time. But I guess I was better at handling things than you,” he laughed and tapped the tip of Ashton’s nose with his index.

“I guess you were, my little poodle.”

“You still remember?”

“Of course I do. What about Michael and Calum? Can we tell them? I mean, they’re my best friends.”

“They’re my best friends too and babe, they already know.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean? No, I don’t mean to tell them that we’re staying together. I mean, tell them that we are together.”

“That’s what I’m talking about too. They know.”

“They know?”

“Yeah, after you went to uni, I was feeling like shit. Michael and Calum came over and they started hanging out with me. They were they only support I had. We became best friends and I told them everything that happened between us. They are very happy for us.”

“Wow… I’ve been going over it again and again in my head, how to tell them.”

They stayed silent for long minutes and then Ashton turned to look at Luke. He still could not believe they had moved in together. He reached out and caressed Luke’s cheek with the back of his fingers.

“I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“I have loved you then and I love you now and nothing can ever change that.”

Ashton kissed him and moved to look into his eyes. “If you aren’t too tired, do you think maybe we can christen the house?”

“Everywhere?” Luke grinned.

“Yeah…”

Luke got up and undressed. “Let’s christen the house.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think and also, it helps me know if I'm going in the right direction and what you expect next.


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